


You Ruined Everything

by Sir_Weston



Category: South Park
Genre: Attempted Murder, Beating, Bullies, Emotional Manipulation, Emotionally Repressed, F/M, Heavy Angst, Homophobic Language, Kidnapping, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mystery, Nightmares, One-Sided Attraction, Orgy, Rape, Torture, Underage Sex, Unrequited Love, emotional link, lots of making out, unrealistic love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2018-12-27 08:10:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 48,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12077064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Weston/pseuds/Sir_Weston
Summary: The kids of South Park are starting to disappear one by one and no one has any idea who could be behind it. Tensions are running high as no one knows who they can and can't trust. Stan, along with Craig, is determined to find his missing friends before any harm comes to them. But it won't be easy as everyone has secrets they aren't willing to share, and may be willing to die to keep hidden. With romantic strains on the side, can Stan and Craig find everyone before its too late?





	1. Tweek

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first M rated story on this site! Hope you like it. It's a bit darker than my previous stories.

It was Monday when it happened. Everything seemed to be going wrong for Tweek. His alarm clock had broken, so he didn’t wake up until he was already late for school. And because he was late for school, Tweek didn’t think to take his morning medications or drink his coffee. He also didn’t grab his lunch, heck, he barely remembered to grab his back pack. When he finally got to school twenty minutes through first period, he was close to tears.

At fourteen years old, one would think Tweek would have gotten past his twitches and quirks and such. But if anything they had only gotten worse over the years. Tweek felt like nothing helped on his bad days, not even his fake boyfriend, Craig. His anxieties were growing and had nearly poured over as he sat down next to Craig.

Trying to ignore the teacher’s harsh words about being late again, and everyone’s stares, Tweek opened his notebook and hid his face in it. He didn’t want everyone to see how close he was to just breaking down and crying from frustration. The teacher turned her attention back to teaching, and Tweek started to shake. He startled a bit as he felt Craig suddenly touch his arm.

“Hey, are you ok?” he whispered.

Instead of answering, Tweek turned his wide, tear stained eyes on him. Craig understood immediately. He stood up and went to the teacher and muttered something to her. Then he walked back to Tweek, gently took his hand, and led him out of the room. Tweek didn’t object as Craig guided him down the hallway, near to the cafeteria, and then outside.

There was a little area that the middle school kids often hung out outside near the cafeteria. This was where Craig and Tweek often liked to go when life got to be too much for Tweek. Craig sat down and Tweek immediately sat down next to him and leaned into him.

Ever since they had started pretend dating, the two of them had grown very close. Craig could keep Tweek’s anxieties and fears down, while Tweek could get Craig to open up more. They had also become quite affectionate towards one another. They didn’t know how it happened, they just kissed one day, and now whenever Tweek needed comfort Craig would hold him in his arms and kiss him deeply. Craig insisted it wasn’t love. Tweek knew it was.

Craig gently took Tweek in his arms and kissed him. Tweek kissed him back.

“What happened today?” Craig asked when he pulled back.

Tweek sighed and shuddered. “Gah! I d-don’t know!” he stammered, “My alarm c-clock wasn’t working, a-and I f-forgot to take my meds. A-and those bullies threatened to b-beat me up a-after school again.”

Craig frowned. “You really shouldn’t let those guys pick on you,” he advised him, “They know you’re afraid of them.” He felt Tweek shudder in his arms.

“I am afraid of them,” he murmured, “Th-they hurt me because I’m d-dating you.” He paused to let out a violent twitch. “A-and if I t-try to retaliate they threaten to kill me.”

“I’m sorry, Tweek,” Craig muttered, “I wish I could do something about it.”

“Yeah,” Tweek sighed, “But they always attack me when you’re not around, because they know you could take all of them.”

Smirking, Craig buried his face into Tweek’s neck. Tweek felt his anxieties fading as he felt Craig’s warm lips against his neck. Why couldn’t it always be like this? Why did he have to worry about school, and getting up on time? It would be so much simpler to just lay there with Craig as long as he wanted and tell him he loved him.

Tweek had confessed his love for Craig to him before. But the dark-haired boy either took it as a joke, or simply ignored it, as Craig had never said it back. It would have bothered Tweek more if Craig wasn’t constantly kissing him.

Tweek felt himself starting to drift off in Craig’s arms when suddenly the bell rang, signaling the end of first period and startling him back to consciousness. Sighing, both he and Craig stood up and Craig pulled him into a tight hug.

“Feeling any better?” Craig asked softly.

“I think so,” Tweek replied, taking a shuddering breath.

Craig led him back inside, taking them to their next class. Tweek was glad he had most of his classes with Craig. There were only two periods he didn’t share with him, and that was a math class, which wasn’t so bad, and lunch, which was horrible. If Tweek wasn’t quick enough to get to the cafeteria from his previous class, he would be ambushed by a group of bullies who would take him outside and beat him up. Then he would spend the rest of the day beaten and bruised, and he wouldn’t get to eat lunch.

And because that was the kind of day he was having today, Tweek had managed to get his hand on the cafeteria door when many strong hands suddenly and violently yanked him away.

“N-NO!” Tweek cried out, “P-please no!” He didn’t get to say anything more as a hand cupped over his mouth to prevent him from speaking. He tried to struggle away as the group of five bullies dragged him outside. He was dumped into one of the darkened allies around the school and the bullies surrounded him.

“Thought you were going to get off easy today, huh, freak?” sneered the leader of the bullies, a cruel boy named Jackson, “I bet you thought your faggy boyfriend would protect you? Well, we’ll show you how wrong you are!”

“P-Please leave me a-alone,” Tweek begged in a pathetic voice, “I’m already h-having a bad day. I-I didn’t even pack my lunch today or take my m-medications!”

“I would leave you alone,” Jackson said in fake sympathy, “But I’m having a shitty day myself. And I have to take it out on someone, so it might as well be you.”

Tweek curled into a ball on the ground and squeezed his eyes shut. “Please,” he whispered, “Don’t…”

He didn’t get to say anything more as a foot connected with his stomach. He let out a gasp of pain as the group descended on him, kicking, and punching, and clawing. The only thing Tweek could do was try to cover his face as best as he could. He suddenly felt Jackson crouch down next to him, and his hands were forcefully pulled away from his face. Jackson grabbed him so he was forced to look at him.

“You fucking fag,” Jackson snarled, “I hate you so much. What gives you the right to go around displaying your unnatural behavior for everyone to see? I’ve seen you making out with your fag of a boyfriend. As soon as we can figure out how to ambush him, he’s going down too.”

Tweek couldn’t bear the thought of Craig being attacked by these horrible teens. It wasn’t his fault Tweek was in love with him, or that those Asian girls had drawn pictures of them, or the town had basically forced them into dating, or any of it! It made Tweek sick to his stomach just imagining the bullies surrounding Craig and attacking him with the same amount of hostility they showed him.

His thoughts were interrupted when seemingly out of nowhere, Jackson leaned down and bit Tweek harshly on the neck. Tweek gasped with surprise and pain, and Jackson cupped a hand on his mouth to keep him quiet. The bully nodded at his buds, who nodded back. They all knelt down beside Tweek and kept him pinned down.

Jackson smirked, then moved himself so that he was sitting on Tweek, his legs on either side of him, as Tweek stared up at him, horrified. He started to tremble as Jackson leaned over him, giving him his nastiest of smiles.

“Get ready, fag,” he hissed, “This’ll make you go wild.”

Before Tweek could wonder what that meant, Jackson leaned down and covered his mouth with his own. Tweek’s eyes widened, and he let out a silent gasp as Jackson thrusted his hips against his own. Jackson took that moment to slip his tongue into his mouth, and Tweek could feel him getting hard. He shuddered beneath his tormentor.

“Oh God,” Jackson breathed into his mouth, “Oh God, yes.” He shifted his lips to Tweek’s neck, and moved his hand to cover his mouth. He gave Tweek another harsh bite, which made him flinch. “You’re making me so hard right now,” the bully muttered against his neck.

Just when Tweek thought he couldn’t take much more, Jackson sat up, sighing with content. “Man, that felt good,” he breathed. He grinned menacingly down at Tweek. “And it’s going to feel even better when we take it further tomorrow,” he promised. Tweek shuddered as Jackson leaned down over him again. “This is what you get for being a fag,” he warned, “I’m going to fuck you. And I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”

Finally, Jackson got off of Tweek and he and his group went back inside. As soon as the door closed, Tweek gasped, taking in all the air he hadn’t been able to breathe during his ordeal. He curled up on his side and started sobbing uncontrollably. He didn’t want to get raped. He didn’t want to get hurt. Why did these things have to happen to him? Why couldn’t Jackson just leave him alone?

Breathing hard, Tweek suddenly heard movement and looked down the alley near where the dumpsters were. He was quite surprised to see Clyde leaning against one, staring at him and casually smoking a cigarette. Tweek blinked. Had he been standing there the whole time? No, he couldn’t have, then he would have helped him, right?

“Clyde,” Tweek whispered. It was hard for him to speak right now. “Please, help me!”

Tweek felt fear start to rise in him as Clyde continued to stare at him. Had he not heard him? Did he not see how much pain he was in? He knew he wasn’t Clyde’s favorite person, but Clyde was Craig’s best friend. Surly that counted for something?

“Please, Clyde!” Tweek begged, trying to raise his voice, “I need help! I-I can’t move on my own!”

Finally, Clyde dropped his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. Then he walked over to Tweek and knelt down beside him. But instead of helping him up, he leaned down to speak softly into his ear.

“It’ll be over soon,” he murmured, “I won’t let you ruin us anymore.”

Tweek suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and he gasped. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he blacked out.

…

When Tweek came to, he felt sore all over. Cringing, he opened his eyes and realized he was in the nurse’s office, and that Craig was sitting in a chair next to his bed. As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt Craig wrap his arms gently around him.

“Oh thank God,” Craig breathed, “You’re awake. You were so still I thought you’d bit the dust.”

“I feel like it,” Tweek muttered, leaning into Craig’s arms.

“What happened?” he asked, “I found you outside near the dumpsters unconscious.”

“Jackson and his gang attacked me,” Tweek explained, “They dragged me outside and beat me up until I blacked out.” He decided not to include the part about Jackson grinding against him, or threatening to rape him. And he knew he could never tell him that Clyde had watched the whole thing without helping him. Maybe he had just imagined that part and had actually blacked out earlier. At least, that’s what Tweek was going to tell himself.

“I’m so sorry, Tweek,” Craig whispered, pressing the smaller boy closer, “I’m going to talk to the advisor tomorrow about having my lunch changed to the same time as yours.”

“Are you sure?” Tweek wondered, “That means you would have to give up the independent guitar studies.” Craig had taken up learning the guitar, and (in order to get mostly free lessons) took one of the independent study hall blocks that was at the same time Tweek went to lunch. It was the only time the school offered them, so if Craig switched to Tweek’s lunch, he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore. And Tweek knew Craig loved to play the guitar. It was one of the very few things that could calm Craig’s nerves.

“I don’t care,” Craig murmured, “Anything to keep you safe from those guys. I won’t let them hurt you anymore.”

Tweek felt his fears starting to melt away. It would be nice knowing he didn’t have to fear lunch time every day anymore. And maybe he would no longer have to fear being raped by Jackson.

“Besides,” Craig continued, “Clyde has his lunch in that block, and I’m sure he would be glad that we can all finally sit together.”

Tweek felt his heart sink. He didn’t have the nerve to tell him that he ate alone at lunch and Clyde went out of his way to avoid him. He didn’t know why Clyde disliked him so much. Tweek had tried to be friendly towards him, even when Craig wasn’t around. But as soon as Craig was no longer there, Clyde would ignore Tweek and act like he didn’t exist. It made Tweek worry that perhaps he had done something wrong; to accidentally offend him in some way. He couldn’t think of what though.

His thoughts were interrupted when Craig suddenly and gently kissed him. Tweek melted into his kiss, and he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck, pulling him in closer. They kissed for a few moments before pulling out of it.

“I love you,” Tweek told Craig.

Craig gently touched his forehead to Tweek’s. “I know,” he whispered.

…

For the rest of the day Tweek’s life was relatively normal. After school he went with Craig, Clyde, Token, and Jimmy to Craig’s house so they could play video games. Last summer the gang had all chipped in to buy a Wii U and several video games, including Super Smash Bros. Craig would’ve bought them himself, but ever since his father committed suicide two years ago, his family didn’t have a lot of extra money, especially since they were still on welfare. Craig kept insisting that they didn’t have to keep splitting costs with him, but they were persistent.

Tweek didn’t often play with the gang. He preferred to just sit next to Craig and watch them play instead. As they played SSB, with Craig playing Lucario, Clyde playing Falco, Token playing Bowser, and Jimmy playing Samus, and Jimmy massacring everyone, Tweek gently leaned against Craig. As the night wore on, the others started heading home, first Jimmy, then Token, then Clyde. Craig waited until Clyde had left before turning to Tweek and wrapping the smaller boy in his arms.

Craig didn’t hesitate to pull Tweek into him and start kissing him deeply. Tweek sighed a little, feeling like after the kind of day he had he just wanted Craig to kiss him forever. He tipped his head back slightly as Craig started kissing his neck, letting him kiss as much of it as he wanted.

“God, I thought they would never leave,” Craig muttered into Tweek’s neck.

“You were waiting for this, huh?” Tweek asked, giggling a little.

“I just wanted to cheer you up after having a horrible day,” Craig explained, “Are you staying the night?”

“I really wish I could,” Tweek sighed, “But I have a ton of homework I need to catch up on. I don’t want tomorrow to be anything like today.”

Craig sighed, releasing him. “Fine,” he mumbled, “But at least stay for dinner. It’s always so awkward now that it’s just my mom, my sister, and me.”

Tweek recalled how devastated Craig had been when, seemingly out of nowhere, his father had taken his own life. He had left a note for his family explaining that he just couldn’t deal with the weight of the world anymore. And then he had sent a bullet through his own head. Though he never said it out loud, Tweek knew Craig felt he was somehow responsible for his father committing suicide. He remembered holding Craig when he had found out about his father’s death. It was one of the only times he had ever seen Craig cry. Ever since then, the family had been struggling to get by, which is why Craig’s friends always offered to split the cost on practically everything. Tweek knew he didn’t want their pity, but at the same time he knew he was grateful deep down.

“Of course I’ll stay,” Tweek answered.

Mrs. Tucker always enjoyed having Tweek around. She knew the kind of positive effects he had on her son, and he knew she felt less lonely with another person in the house. She was always warning him that the moment the Tweaks least expected it she would steal their son away for herself. Sometimes Tweek felt like Mrs. Tucker treated him better and more respectfully than his own parents.

Tweek and Craig walked to the kitchen where Mrs. Tucker and Craig’s sister were setting up dinner. It seemed Mrs. Tucker had anticipated Tweek staying, because she had already set up a place for him next to Craig. She smiled as they came in.

“Hello, Tweek,” she greeted. Tweek smiled back.

“Hi, Mrs. Tucker,” he replied, sitting down next to Craig.

“And how was your day?” she wondered.

It could’ve been a lot better, Tweek thought bitterly. But he didn’t want to upset the woman, so he didn’t say it out loud. “It was fine,” he said instead.  
“That’s good dear,” she said, smiling warmly. She turned to her son. “And how was your day, dear?”

“Eh,” Craig answered nonchalantly.

Tweek smiled slightly at Craig’s answer. It was nice to know that no matter how difficult life got for him, Craig would always act like he didn’t care about any of it. To Tweek, it meant that he was coping.

When dinner was finished, Tweek said good-bye to the Tuckers, gave Craig a quick kiss, then started walking home. It was starting to grow quite dark out as winter set in, which meant it would start getting darker earlier. Tweek didn’t like that. He always hated the dark, as anything could be hiding in it, and he wouldn’t know until it pounced.

Because of how dark it was, Tweek didn’t even notice the black car until it pulled up beside him and a man got out. “Are you Tweek?” the man asked.

Tweek stopped, remembering the time when he almost abducted in the fourth grade. He didn’t turn to the man. “I-I don’t think I should a-answer that,” he murmured. He started to take a step forward, but stopped when he suddenly felt something press against his back. He felt his heart start to pound, and a tremor ran up his spine.

“Please don’t make me shoot you,” the man said calmly, “I have no problem with killing you right now. Come quietly, however, and I won’t have to unload this gun into you.”

Tweek felt terrified tears coming to his eyes, and he shut them, then took a shuddering breath. He slowly turned around to face the man. In the darkness he couldn’t tell if he recognized him or not.

“Give me your cell phone,” the man ordered. Trembling, Tweek reached into his bag and took out his cell phone and gave it to the man. The man immediately threw the phone onto the ground and smashed it. Tweek flinched.

“Get into the car,” the man told him, “And don’t you dare try to cry for help, because I will shoot you.”

He walked over to the car and opened the door. Tweek quietly walked over and got in, tears burning his eyes. The man got in after him and shut the door. “Drive,” he said to whoever was up front.

As the car started driving away the only thing Tweek could think of was how he would probably never be seen alive again.


	2. Clyde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clyde tries to comfort Craig when he learns Tweek has gone missing.

When Clyde walked down the stairs on Tuesday morning he saw his dad talking on the phone with someone. He was talking in a quiet and hushed tone and Clyde wondered if something was wrong. He walked a little closer to see if he could hear what he was saying.

“Uh-huh. No, I understand. Yes, I’ll be sure to ask him. Don’t worry, Mrs. Tweak, I’m sure he’ll turn up.” Mr. Donovan hung up, then turned around and spotted his son. “Clyde, that was Mrs. Tweak on the phone just now,” he told him, “She was wondering if you’ve seen her son, Tweek at all recently.”

Clyde fought to keep his face calm and emotionless. He had expected this. “I saw him yesterday at Craig’s house,” he replied, “We were playing video games after school. She might want to try there.”

“No, she called Craig’s house first,” his father informed him, “Craig said he left after dinner. Apparently, though, he never came home. The Tweaks are getting really worried.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Clyde dismissed nonchalantly, “He’s probably off having a panic attack somewhere. He’ll turn up at school.”

With that, Clyde quickly left the room to get ready for school. He had a feeling everyone was going to be gossiping about Tweek today, and Craig would need comfort if Tweek didn’t show up.

Ever since the third grade, Clyde had fallen deeply in love with Craig. He knew it was wrong to be in love with his best friend, but he couldn’t help himself. He had tried to suppress his feelings, but they only grew stronger with time. He wanted to spend every waking moment with Craig by his side.

Which was why when he started dating Tweek Clyde had become incredibly bitter and jealous. He grew to hate the little blond-haired spaz and how he had managed to get with Craig by accident. Clyde often found himself staring at Tweek, wishing he were dead or anywhere else in the world.

As Clyde approached the bus stop, he could see Craig waiting, staring down, and fidgeting uncontrollably. Taking a deep breath, Clyde walked over to him.

“Hey man,” he greeted, “What’s wrong? You looked distressed.”

“Tweek’s mom called this morning,” Craig informed him, “He didn’t come home last night. I’m really worried about him.”

Clyde gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m sure Tweek is fine,” he assured his friend, “He probably just had a panic attack and got a little lost or something.”

“But what if something happened to him?” Craig asked, “Something horrible? It would be my fault! I should’ve tried harder to get him to stay last night.”

As Craig started shaking, Clyde put an arm around him and pressed him against his side. He whispered gently to him, assuring him that everything would be fine. Craig didn’t reply, but allowed Clyde to hold him.

The bus finally pulled up, and Clyde and Craig got on. Clyde gently guided Craig to the back of the bus so they wouldn’t be disturbed.

“I bet that Jackson guy had something to do with it,” Craig muttered as the bus drove to school, “He beat up Tweek yesterday, and he’s always stalking Tweek.”

Clyde just barely held himself back from saying, “Yeah, I know, I saw it happen.” Instead he took a breath. “Yeah, that guy is a real jerk,” he said, “I can’t believe he picks on Tweek so much. He wouldn’t be so cocky when you were around.”

Craig sighed. “I just hope he’s ok,” he murmured quietly.

It hurt Clyde to see his best friend so torn up like that. He wanted to say something to cheer him up, but nothing came to mind. Instead he put his arms around Craig and pulled him close. “Er, Craig?” he started.

“Yeah?”

“Um, never mind,” Clyde said quickly, chickening out. Craig gave him a quizzical look, but didn’t question him.

When they got to school, Clyde went with Craig to the advisor’s office to get his lunch period switch. Craig insisted that he still wanted to go through with it even though Tweek wasn’t there today. Afterwards they decided to ditch first period. Clyde could tell Craig wasn’t really in the mood to try to pay attention in school, so Clyde insisted they at least skip first period so Craig could collect himself.

They sat outside where Craig and Tweek usually hung out. Clyde sat next to his friend, quietly smoking a cigarette as Craig rested his head on his knees. Craig didn’t mind that Clyde smoked; Craig had taken up smoking for a while, but quit because it upset Tweek. He was already twitchy enough from the meth his parents put in his coffee, he didn’t need the second-hand smoke from Craig. Plus, Tweek had complained that Craig’s breath always tasted of smoke. So, he had quickly dropped the habit.

It was another thing that had annoyed Clyde about Tweek. If Tweek didn’t like Craig smoking, then tough! He should get over it.

Clyde tried not to linger on those thoughts at the moment. He was supposed to be comforting Craig. He pressed himself to his friend’s side and put an arm around him.  
“It’ll be ok, Craig,” Clyde told him softly, “Tweek’s a fighter. I don’t think anything too bad could’ve happened to him. I’m sure he’ll turn up by the end of the day.”

Craig closed his eyes and didn’t say anything. Clyde could feel him trembling slightly. Sighing, he pressed a little closer. He had never seen Craig so upset before. He usually kept up such a cool, uncaring air about him that didn’t break down for anything. More than anything, Clyde wanted to kiss him and tell him everything would be all right. But he knew if he tried to randomly kiss Craig he would get smacked.

After first period they went to the rest of their classes until lunch. Craig’s lunch switch was effective immediately, so he went with Clyde to the cafeteria. They got their food and sat down, but Craig simply stared down at his food, not eating any of it. Clyde sighed a little.

“Dude, you have to eat something,” he pointed out.

“I’m not hungry,” Craig muttered.

Before Clyde could argue with him, Jackson and his gang sauntered up to them, and Clyde looked up to glare at them. Oh, they were getting bold. He noticed Craig look up as well, and he could see hatred flare up in his eyes.

“Hey Tucker,” Jackson greeted mockingly, “Where’s your fag friend today? Didn’t show up to school? Or did he finally do the world a favor and shoot himself?” His goons started laughing, but it didn’t last long as Craig snapped.

With lightning speed, Craig stood and punched Jackson square in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. Everyone nearby stopped and stood up to watch, and Jackson’s friends stared in horror. Clyde quickly moved to Craig’s side in case he needed help. Jackson glared up at the two of them.

“What the fuck, man?” he asked.

“What did you do to Tweek?!” Craig shouted at him, “I know you had something with him not being here! What have you done to him!?”

“I haven’t done anything to that fucking little fag!” Jackson snarled, “I haven’t touched him at all!”

“Bullshit!” Craig hissed, “He told me what you did to him yesterday! Do you think I’m stupid? I know you idiots torment him on a daily basis! What’s the matter? Too afraid to face me, so you have to settle on someone too nervous to fight back?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Jackson growled, but Clyde could tell he was lying. He could see the fear in his eyes. Craig was much tougher than him and his goons. And they all knew it.

Craig crouched down and grabbed Jackson by the collar, then lifted him up off his feet. The pure hatred that showed in Craig’s eyes frightened Clyde a little. He didn’t know his friend could get so worked up like this.

“I swear,” Craig hissed low enough that only he, Jackson, and Clyde could hear, “If you do anything to hurt Tweek ever again, I’ll make sure no one ever hears from you ever again.”

To punctuate this, he gave Jackson one more punch in the stomach before storming out of the cafeteria. Without even stopping to see anyone’s reactions, Clyde quickly ran after him. He quickly caught up to him as he stomped outside, and he gently wrapped his arms around him to cool him down.

“Hey, it’s ok,” he murmured to Craig, “Calm down. I don’t think he’ll be bothering you anymore.”

But Craig was shaking with anger in Clyde’s arms. “How dare he talk about Tweek that way?” he hissed, “If I find out he did anything to Tweek, I’ll fucking kill him.”

Clyde sighed and gently pressed Craig closer. “I know, dude,” he said gently, “I’m worried about him too. But I don’t think attacking Jackson will do any good.”

Slowly, Craig stopped shaking, and he gently leaned into Clyde. Without letting him see, a smile worked its way onto Clyde’s face. He leaned over and lightly touched the side of Craig’s forehead with his lips. Not really a kiss or anything, more of a gesture of reassurance. He felt a single tremor run through Craig’s body.

“Can you walk home with me?” Craig asked quietly, “I don’t think I can stay here for the rest of the day. I won’t be able to focus.”

Clyde smiled warmly. “Of course, bud,” he replied, slinging an arm around his shoulders, “Who needs this place?”

…

When they got to Clyde’s house, he carefully made sure his dad wasn’t home before letting Craig inside. Clyde led him over to the couch where Craig flopped down unhappily, and put his feet up on the low coffee table. Clyde went over and sat next to him.

Clyde could tell Craig didn’t want to talk at the moment. His eyes were closed and he had a frown on his face. Clyde sighed. Maybe he should tell Craig what he saw last night. That would at least get him to talk. But then, he might hate Clyde for withholding information. Perhaps it would just best to keep quiet and comfort him.

“Do you want to talk at all?” Clyde asked.

“Not really,” Craig muttered, his eyes still closed, “I’m just so worried about him. And you know the police won’t be capable enough to do anything. I’m scared I won’t ever see him again. I’m afraid…” His voice broke as he paused, and Clyde could hear the overwhelming sadness in his voice.

“Afraid of what?” Clyde wondered.

“I’m afraid I lost my chance to tell him…”

Clyde felt his heart drop. “Tell him what?” he asked, his voice low.

A tear came to Craig’s eye as he folded his legs up and hugged them. “I love him,” he whispered, “I kept denying it, but I can’t any more. I’m in love with Tweek. And now I may never get to tell him.”

“Don’t say that,” Clyde murmured, “I’m sure he’ll turn up. Maybe he’s not even missing. I mean, a person isn’t technically missing until he’s been gone for two or three days, right?”

Craig didn’t respond but merely scoffed. Clyde sighed and moved over to press against him. “Craig, I hate seeing you like this,” he told his friend, “Isn’t there anyway I can make you feel better?”

“You can tell me where Tweek is,” Craig muttered, resting his head on his knees.

“I don’t know where he is,” Clyde replied, sighing. It hurt him to lie to his best friend, but he knew this was the only way he could get what he wanted. Craig buried his face in his knees.

As he watched his friend sulk, Clyde decided to take a chance. He moved closer to Craig and gently reached over and cupped his chin, lifting his head up. As Craig blinked in confusion, Clyde leaned over and pressed his lips to his neck. He felt Craig shiver at his touch, but he ignored it as he ran his mouth over his skin.

“Clyde,” Craig breathed, “What are you doing?”

Clyde paused to answer. “I just want to try to make you feel better,” he said, “I can’t bring Tweek back. But maybe I can get your mind off him for a little while.”

He heard Craig take a breath, as if he were about to protest, but Clyde kissed his neck again, and that breath caught in his friend’s throat. Clyde moved closer so he could taste more of his neck. He wrapped an arm around Craig, and he felt him start to relax a little. His knees fell, and he allowed Clyde to kiss his neck deeper. Clyde happily accepted.

After a little while of feeling Craig’s neck, Clyde decided to try pushing it a little further. He carefully pushed Craig onto his back and moved to lay on top of him. He felt Craig’s breath catch again, but he didn’t say anything. Venturing a little further, Clyde pulled away and stared down at his friend whom he loved so much. Craig stared back, eyes a bit wider than usual, and with a spark of curiosity of what he would do.

Just barely managing to contain himself, Clyde leaned down and kissed Craig fully on the lips. He felt Craig shudder once beneath him and take a sharp breath. Clyde had to remind himself not to stick his tongue down his love’s throat. No, that would come later. He wanted to ease into it so Craig wouldn’t suspect anything and get freaked out. He also had to stop himself from grinding his hips against his friend. He had to stick to gentle kissing for now, which luckily it seemed Craig was willing to let him do.

Clyde decided to be a bit braver and kissed Craig even deeper. He felt his own heart pounding in his chest and he was excited when he felt Craig gently kiss him back. He knew his friend was probably only doing this out of comfort, but Clyde didn’t care. He had waited for this moment since the third grade. To feel Craig pressing back on him as Clyde kissed him. Clyde gently ran his fingers under Craig’s blue chullo hat and entangled them in his long black hair. He sighed into his friend’s mouth.

After a while of gentle kissing, Clyde pulled away and gently tucked his face into Craig’s neck. His heart felt full at the moment, and he was pleased that Craig was no longer shivering underneath him. He heard his friend sigh.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” Craig asked, “I don’t want to be alone.”

Clyde smiled to himself. “Sure,” he replied, “But we’ll have to go to your house.”

“Why?”

(Because my dad doesn’t like you,) Clyde thought, (He knows I’m in love with you and hates that I’m gay for you.)

“I always feel more comfortable at your house,” he said. It wasn’t a total lie. Clyde always felt much more welcome at Craig’s house than his own. Especially ever since Clyde accidentally killed his own mom, his father was distant towards him.

Craig sighed again. “Fine,” he muttered.

“You’re very cozy, by the way,” Clyde added, snuggling himself against Craig.

“Get off of me.”

…

Craig and Clyde decided to head to the other house sometime after 3 so Craig’s mom wouldn’t know he had skipped. “Mom! I’m home!” Craig called as he and Clyde entered. Mrs. Tucker appeared in the doorway. She looked slightly upset.

“Hello dear,” she greeted, “Oh, and hello Clyde.”

“Hi, Mrs. Tucker,” Clyde greeted politely.

“Clyde’s staying over tonight,” Craig told his mom. Look on her face told Clyde she knew why.

“Good,” she said, “I’ll make sure to set an extra plate for him.” She then retreated back to the kitchen.

“Your mom looked kind of sad,” Clyde noted when she had left.

“She always looks sad these days,” Craig commented, “But she got really upset when she got that phone call from the Tweaks this morning. She really likes Tweek. I think she secretly wants his parents to do something horrible and be sent to jail so she can adopt him.”

Clyde grinned at his statement. “He does have that ‘adopt me’ kind of charm, doesn’t he?” he said, gently nudging his friend.

To Clyde’s joy, Craig allowed himself to smile. “Yeah,” he said quietly, “He did.” Then he frowned again as he started thinking of Tweek. Clyde gently wrapped his arms around him in comfort.

“Come on,” he encouraged, “You want to play a game or something until dinner is ready?”

“Sure,” Craig muttered. He followed Clyde out to the living room. They played some random shooter games until Mrs. Tucker called them for dinner. The family ate quietly, and Clyde was annoyed. He knew that all three of them were thinking of Tweek. After dinner, Clyde took Craig’s hand and took him up to his room. They sat down on his bed and Clyde looked at Craig.

“Are you doing ok?” he asked.

Craig shrugged. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “I can’t stop thinking of Tweek. I would give anything to know what happened to him. Where is he?”

Clyde felt his heart drop again. He knew what happened to Tweek. He had seen everything. He had seen the man’s face clearly and he knew who it was. He knew Tweek couldn’t see well in the dark or dim lighting, but he could. He had been watching from behind a tree when Tweek was abducted. It would be so easy to just come clean and tell Craig everything. To end his misery and suffering.

But at the same time, Clyde knew he could never tell Craig what he had seen. If Craig knew he had been holding back that kind of information all day, Craig would never forgive him. He had just started getting Craig to know his feelings for him, and he didn’t want to ruin by having Tweek return. He knew he had to stay silent.

As Craig sat staring at the floor, Clyde slid over next to him, leaned over, and kissed his neck. He heard Craig take a sharp breath and lift his head.

“Clyde…” Craig began.

“Hush,” Clyde whispered into his neck, “Just let me do this for you.”

Craig didn’t reply, but silently let Clyde continue kissing him. Clyde grinned and started kissing Craig’s throat, gently running his mouth over his skin and tasting him. He felt Craig’s breath catch as he started kissing along his jawline. When he was done kissing every inch of Craig’s neck and making him shudder, Clyde gently pushed his friend onto his back. He carefully moved on top of him and laid himself down, covering Craig’s body with his own. He waited a moment, to see if Craig would protest, but he didn’t.

Leaning down, Clyde decided to kiss Craig’s neck some more, now that he had a better angle. He felt Craig shudder once beneath him as his lips lightly touched his skin. Clyde liked the way Craig tasted; he kissed his neck deeper so he could taste him. He kissed his way up his throat before finally capturing Craig’s lips with his own. He kissed him gently at first, but slowly started kissing him deeper and harder. Craig closed his eyes and accepted his friend. Clyde’s heart lifted when he felt him gently kissing him back.

The two of them lay there, gently kissing until night fell. Clyde didn’t know exactly how much time had passed, but for him, he felt like he could lie there and kiss Craig all night. He had Craig’s shoulders pinned to his bed, while Craig had an arm wrapped around him while his other hand was tangled in Clyde’s hair. They kissed deeply, and in Clyde’s case rather passionately. When they finally stopped kissing, Clyde carefully rolled off of Craig and lay beside him. They lay in silence for a while before one of them spoke.

“Clyde?” Craig said in a low voice.

“Yeah?” Clyde asked.

“Thanks for trying to take my mind off of things,” his friend said, “I really needed the comfort today.”

Clyde smiled. “Of course,” he replied, “I would do anything for you.”

Craig didn’t respond, but moved himself over so he was snuggling up against Clyde. Clyde wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer. He took a sharp breath when he felt Craig gently press his face into his neck. Before long, Clyde could hear his peaceful breathing. He was asleep. Clyde smiled to himself.

Finally, Craig belonged to him. And there was no Tweek around to steal him away.


	3. Kenny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenny and his friends wonder what has become of Tweek, and Kenny decides to do a little digging.

Kenny had grown very handsome in four years. His hair was longer so that it draped into his eyes, and his face had grown sharp. He wore an orange hoodie reminiscent of his old parka that he always wore up. He was handsome, but not a lot of people seemed to notice.

When news of Tweek’s disappearance hit the town, it wasn’t until Wednesday before a lot of people started taking it seriously. A lot of people, including Kenny, just assumed he had spazzed out and would be back the next day. When he didn’t, many started to get worried. What had happened to Tweek? Had he run away? Or worse, had someone abducted him?

This was the topic of discussion between Kenny and his friends as they stood at the bus stop. Appearance wise, the four friends had not changed much. Stan was the tallest of the four, and he still kept his black hair neat and tidy under his hat, despite the fact that it had grown a bit longer. The most drastic change was that he now bore a faint scar under his left eye. No one could remember where he had gotten it, not even Stan himself.

Cartman had managed to turn about 50% of his fat into pure muscle, so he was still large, but now he could be intimidating as well. He was the second tallest of the four, almost matching Stan’s height, but not quite. His hair was always neatly trimmed, and he had managed to lose his second chin.

Kyle was the shortest (with Kenny being the second shortest), which annoyed him. He wasn’t short, but being smaller than Eric meant that the larger boy could tower over him and exert dominance over him. Kyle had started straightening his hair, which made it longer than most of the guys in their class (and Kenny often teased made him look like a girl), but he didn’t care as he claimed it was more manageable that way. All three boys still wore their old hats.

“I wonder how long it will take the police to start searching for Tweek,” Stan wondered as they stood by the bus stop, “I’m sure his parents called them right away, but you know how lazy and incompetent the police are in this town.”

“Whelp, I guess we’ll never see Tweek again,” Cartman said in a fake sad voice, “I hope Craig at least had one good bang with him. Although, knowing Tweek, probably not.”

“Gross, Cartman,” Kyle scowled.

“What?”

“I wonder how Craig is taking all of this,” Kenny wondered out loud, “I didn’t really see him yesterday.”

“Well, I know he attacked Jackson at lunch,” Stan told him.

“Jackson?” Kenny clarified, “That homophobic asshole?”

“Yeah,” Stan replied, “Apparently Jackson was saying some rude things about Tweek and Craig attacked him for it.”

“What a wuss,” Cartman sneered, “Jackson talks big, but he can’t take a punch. I mean, he’s eighteen for God’s sake! What asshole gets held back four years in a row?”

Kyle let out a sigh. “I just hope wherever Tweek is he’s ok,” he muttered.

Their conversation halted as the bus pulled up. They got on, taking their regular seats up front. Kenny was annoyed that he always had to sit next to Eric. Some days it was all right, but when Cartman was in one of his “I want to start something” moods, it made Kenny angry that he wasn’t strong enough to sock Cartman in the face. And today it seemed like Cartman was in that mood. Cartman leaned over to where Kyle sat next to Stan and poked him in the arm.

“Hey Kyle,” he sneered, “Maybe someone kidnapped Tweek. And maybe whoever did it will come back for you. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Kyle angrily rolled his eyes. “We don’t know what happened to him, jackass,” he snapped. Since Eric was no longer as fat, Kyle had dropped the fat ass insult a while ago. “Keep your insensitive comments to yourself.”

“Who’s going to make me?” Cartman asked, “You?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Kyle hissed.

“Eric, don’t provoke him,” Kenny sighed.

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

The bus stopped again and Craig, Clyde, and Token climbed on. Craig had his head down and refused to look at anyone, while Clyde had a comforting arm around him. Kenny felt so bad for Craig. It must’ve been hard for him to lose his boyfriend, one of his closest friends.

Kenny quickly turned to Cartman and cupped a hand over his mouth before he could say the insensitive thing he had obviously been about to say. Cartman mumbled into his hand, and Craig passed by him without noticing.

“What did you do that for, Kenny?” Cartman asked, as the three took their seats in the back of the bus, “I had a really funny joke to tell Craig about dead people!”

“And that’s exactly why I stopped you,” Kenny pointed out, “I don’t think you want to walk around school all day with a black eye.”

Cartman grumbled something like “I could take him” under his breath, but made no further comment until they got to school. The hallways were buzzing with chatter, and the rumor mills were flowing. Kenny swore he heard someone say that Tweek had simply returned to his home planet, while someone else said he had been a government spy the entire time.

“Is this all people are going to talk about now?” Stan wondered as the four friends went to their lockers.

“Apparently,” Kyle muttered, “But then again, this is the biggest thing to happen in a while. Not much has gone on recently.”

“Well, I hope it passes soon so we can go back to being bored,” Cartman said.

As the day started, Kenny found he had trouble concentrating. He always got worried when he heard of someone, especially young people, disappearing. It made him start to worry about his younger sister, Karen. Even after four years, the McCormick’s financial situation had not gotten any better, so they still lived in poverty. Kenny was always afraid someone would break in at night and rob them, not because they had anything worth stealing, but because they were an easy target. And even after four years, Karen was still very shy and reserved. Kenny worried about her all the time.

During study hall, Kenny decided to use the time to search the web and see if there was any news on Tweek’s disappearance. He went to the computer lab and took a seat next to David who was playing a computer game. He decided to start with the local newspaper and today’s articles. He searched through the website and finally found a story about it.

It claimed that there was very little information on Tweek’s disappearance and that the police had no leads or suspects at the time. The only thing they could say is that it was very likely Tweek had been abducted. Kenny sighed with annoyance. A lot of good that did. He wasn’t quite sure what he was hoping to find, but it wasn’t this. Maybe a where he had been seen last, if the police suspected foul play, or anything. It didn’t give Kenny any reassurance.

Annoyed, he tried looking up related articles. He found a story from North Park about someone who had abducted a bunch of kids and was never found. The children he (or she) had abducted had never been found either, and that was ten years ago. It made Kenny depressed that someone would do such a thing. So, he shut off the computer and tried to focus long enough to get some work done, but he couldn’t concentrate.

At lunch time, Kenny sat with his friends as always. As the four made idle gossip, he couldn’t help but notice Craig and his friends at a nearby table. None of them were talking at all, and Craig was resting his head in his arms, not eating, while Clyde talked to him in a quiet voice. It made Kenny think of the North Park article.

“I hope this whole thing doesn’t turn into a repeat of what happened in North Park ten years ago,” he said out loud. Stan, Kyle, and Cartman looked at him.

“What happened in North Park ten years ago?” Kyle wondered.

“Apparently several kids went missing,” Kenny explained, “The police never found out who did it, and no one saw the kids again. Apparently, whoever did it left very little evidence or clues, and they had very few suspects. It sent the town into a panic, and people became incredibly paranoid. It’s very sad when you think about it.”

Stan shuddered. “I hope that doesn’t happen to our town,” he said solemnly, “The police didn’t have any leads at all?”

Kenny shook his head. “About twelve kids were taken, and the police couldn’t even piece together what they had in common other than they were all relatively the same age and went to the same school,” he told him, “They’re probably not even alive anymore.”

“Aw dude, you’re making me sad,” Cartman said, “I’m tearing up. You’re bumming me out, man. You’re bumming me out.”

Kenny rolled his eyes at him. “Anyway, they never caught the man. Or woman,” he concluded, “Some people think whoever did it skipped town before they could get caught.”

“That’s what I would do,” Cartman told him, “But I’d be discreet about it. You know, not draw any attention to myself.”

“We’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Kyle muttered. “Anyway, hopefully this isn’t the same and Tweek is an isolated case.”

The others agreed.

The rest of school went by slowly. One of the last classes Kenny and his friends had was gym class, which was a pain. They shared the class with Jackson and his thugs, and he was always pushing others around in the locker rooms. He also made homophobic comments about Tweek, who also shared their gym class, but the only reason nothing ever really came of it was because Craig was there as well to protect him. Kenny felt really sorry for Tweek, as ever since he started dating Craig, he stopped showering with the other guys, as it embarrassed him, and he was afraid the others would think he was checking them out or something. Since gym was the last class of the day, Tweek always got out of showering by putting on deodorant and claiming he would shower when he got home.

As expected, the gym teacher just had them all run laps for half the class, then divided them into random sports for the next half. Then they were told to hit the showers. Kenny wasn’t self-conscious about showering naked with a bunch of other guys. He had got past that phase a long time ago. He did, however, wish that they could have one shower without Jackson opening his fat mouth.

“I’m really glad that fag is gone,” Jackson said loudly to his buds, “I don’t want him staring at my dick while I’m showering.”

“Like anyone would want to stare at his micro penis,” Kenny muttered quietly to Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. The three of them snickered.

Kenny noticed Craig and Clyde standing a short distance away. As Jackson shouted more obscenities, he saw Craig getting more and more angry. His hands were starting to ball into fists. As hot as a naked shower fight sounded, Kenny was glad that Clyde was murmuring in Craig’s ear, calming him down. He gently led his friend out of the showers and back into the locker rooms to get dressed.

The four friends followed them back to the locker room and also started getting dressed. Right when they finished, Jackson came in, wrapped in a towel, still talking loudly.

“I hope whoever kidnapped that fag is giving it to him good,” he was saying, “You know, sticking it in him? Then that will teach him for- “Jackson didn’t get to finish his sentence as he was suddenly slammed against the lockers.

Craig had the older boy pinned, glaring with pure hatred at Jackson. “What did I tell you about making comments about Tweek?” he snarled. He grabbed a handful of Jackson’s hair and slammed his head against the lockers. Jackson already had a bloody nose, but now his mouth was starting to bleed.

Kenny and the other guys watched in fear at Craig’s outrage as Clyde desperately tried to calm him down. But Craig was taking no notice of his friend.

“Let go of me, Tucker!” Jackson croaked. But Craig held strong, Jackson’s struggles to free himself not even phasing him.

“Take back what you said about Tweek!” Craig demanded, slamming his head into the lockers again.

“Get your hands off me!”

“Craig, stop!” Clyde yelled. He grabbed his friend’s shoulders and pulled him away from Jackson, who collapsed to the floor. His buds immediately ran to him and carried him out of the locker room.

“Damn, Craig,” Cartman chuckled, “Anger issues, much?”

“Don’t start with me, jackass,” Craig threatened, “I’m not in the mood.”

“Seriously, Cartman,” Kenny added calmly, “You need to watch what you say. You’re going to get yourself killed someday.”

“Whatever,” Cartman said dismissively. Kenny was fairly certain that if Clyde hadn’t been holding his arms down, Craig would have socked the larger boy in the face.

After school was finally let out, the four friends started walking home. Normally they would take the bus, but it was a nice day out and they wanted to enjoy it.

“Did you see Jackson’s face when his goons carried him out?” Cartman laughed as they walked, “It was so bloody and disgusting!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Kyle muttered, looking a bit pale. Kenny remembered that Kyle had grown more squeamish over the years, and was quite disturbed by the sight of blood.

“I think he deserved it,” Stan said honestly, “For what he said about Tweek. I mean, the idiot knows Craig can beat him up. It’s like he has something to prove.”

“Maybe he actually was involved in Tweek’s disappearance and is rubbing it in Craig’s face because he knows he can’t prove anything,” Kenny reasoned out loud. He had been thinking that ever since that morning when Stan had said that Jackson had provoked Craig.

Kyle looked at him. “Do you really think Jackson is smart enough for that?” he asked. Kenny shrugged.

“It’s just a theory I had,” he said, “Why else would Jackson provoke Craig like that?”

“Because he’s an idiot,” Cartman replied, “I’ve already said this.”

“Maybe,” Stan said quietly.

They walked the rest of the way to their houses in silence, too disturbed by the recent events to turn the conversation towards anything positive. Kenny left his friends to go to his run-down wreck of a house. When he got near, he could hear his older brother Kevin arguing with their father. Kenny rolled his eyes. Kevin and Stuart had been arguing about jobs recently. Stuart didn’t have one, and Kevin had one that only paid minimum wage. In Kenny’s opinion, it was better than nothing, and at least Kevin was getting some job experience, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for their dad.

As if he has the right to complain, Kenny thought, bitterly, Dad doesn’t even have a job.

He walked into the house, which looked closer to collapsing every day, to find his mom washing dishes at the sink, while Kevin and Stuart yelled at each other. Karen was sitting in a corner, playing with one of her dolls, and doing her best not to cry. She looked up when Kenny came in, and her face lit up.

“Kenny’s home!” she exclaimed happily, running over to give her big brother a hug. Kenny returned the hug with a warm smile.

“How was school today?” he asked her.

“It was ok, I guess,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders, “Everyone was talking about that one kid who got kidnapped.”

“They don’t know for sure he got kidnapped,” Kenny muttered, “But, yeah, that’s all anyone talk about at the middle school as well. I feel so bad. Tweek’s parents must be so worried about him.”

“It’s scary,” Karen murmured, shivering slightly, “I don’t know what I would do if I was kidnapped. Probably scream.”

Kenny smiled a little. “Yes, scream,” he said, “Scream as loud as you can so everyone can hear you and come save you.”

Karen managed to smile and went back to playing with her dolls. Kenny took a seat on the couch and turned on the TV, turning the volume up as loud as it could so he could drown out the yelling.

“And for tonight’s news,” the news anchor said, as soon as the TV turned on, “There is still no word on the boy who was abducted late yesterday. There have been no calls, no ransom notes, and nothing for the police to go on. Some people are thinking at this point that he simply ran away, but his parents have said that nothing was taken out of his room to indicate that this is the case.” The anchor then went on to give information on Tweek, and what number to call if anyone had any details. Kenny turned the TV off and sighed.

How could someone just disappear like that without a trace?

Feeling cramped in the small house, Kenny hopped off the couch and went outside. He wasn’t going to go far, it was starting to get late, but the cool air made him feel better. He took a deep breath and pulled off his hood, letting the night air run through his hair.

Kenny stretched, and was about to go back inside, when he suddenly felt someone right behind him. He tensed his body and started to turn around, but whoever was behind him grabbed him, wrapping an arm around his chest and a hand to his mouth. Kenny tried to scream for help, but he was muffled. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck, and he started to feel dizzy.

“Don’t struggle,” a voice said in his ear, “It’ll only make it worse for you.”

Kenny was only aware enough to know he was being dragged towards a black car before he passed out.


	4. Token/Tweek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Token suspects there's more going on with Clyde comforting Craig than meets the eye. Also, we learn what happened to Tweek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is a rape scene in this chapter! Read with caution if that upsets you!

It was raining that Thursday when Token woke up. Almost as if South Park was crying about something that had happened. But that was ridiculous.

Token had not changed much in four years. He kept his hair short and trim, and his clothes prim and proper. His face had softened nicely, and he was very nice to look at. He had grown taller than his other friends, something he lorded over them quite proudly.

Craig had grown incredibly handsome in just four years. His black hair was long enough that it stuck out from beneath his hat (that he still had), but not as long as any girl’s hair. It framed his face nicely, and he grown tall and well built. He wasn’t incredibly muscular, but he was well toned. Almost every girl in school, as well as about a third of the guys wanted to sleep with him. Lots of girls had asked him out, but Craig had rejected all of them. He could have anyone he wanted, but he only had eyes for Tweek. Something Token knew made Clyde, as well as every girl, incredibly jealous.

People were so smitten with Craig, that onetime Token had been waiting a bit down the hall, waiting for Craig to say good bye to Tweek so Craig and Token could walk to class together. While he was waiting, Jason had walked up to Token and put an arm around him.

“You know, Token,” Jason had said, “I’m not gay, but I wouldn’t mind getting in Craig’s pants some time. Heck, sometimes I jerk off thinking about him at night.”

Token had promptly gone home and burned his shirt.

Clyde had also not changed a great deal. He was taller than Craig, but shorter than Token. His hair remained a mess on his head, and it had only grown slightly longer. He was more muscular than Craig, as he was on the football team. While he didn’t wear the same red letterman jacket he had when he was ten, he wore one that was very similar to it.

Jimmy, due to being crippled, had grown very little over four years. He had gotten his stuttering mostly under control, but in times of stress it would manifest itself. His hair had grown quite long, which he said made him look like a rock star, but Clyde said made him look like a homeless hippie.

Tweek was small and skinny, his hair just as wild and messy as it was four years ago. He usually had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, and he always looked haunted. So, you know, not a lot of change. His hair had grown longer and wilder, and he often complained about how unmanageable it was. But Craig told him it made him look adorable, so he never got it cut. This annoyed his mother, who thought it was too long. Token could fondly remember a time when he was at Tweek’s house and watching his mother chase him around the house with a pair of scissors while Token laughed.

As Token waited at the bus stop, he saw Craig, Clyde, and Jimmy approaching. He tried his best to smile warmly at them, despite the rain.

“Hey guys,” he greeted, “What’s the news?”

Craig didn’t say anything but simply stared at the ground. So, Jimmy answered for him. “D-D-Didn’t you hear?” he asked, “Someone else was kidnapped last night.”

“Really?” Token was shocked. “Who?”

“Kenny,” Clyde answered. His voice was grave.

“Kenny?” Token clarified, “Kenny McCormick? The one that’s always hanging out with Stan and those other guys? That Kenny?”

“Yeah,” Clyde replied, “Shocking, isn’t it?”

Token looked at Craig, but he still said nothing. Clyde put an arm around his friend and whispered something in his ear. Craig slowly nodded, and Token couldn’t help but notice Clyde lean over and quickly but deeply kiss Craig’s neck. He was sure Clyde hadn’t wanted anyone to see that, and didn’t notice that Token did. And Token felt a strange anger rise in him. He fought it down for now, but he would be watching.

When the bus arrived, the four of them got on, passing Stan and his friends on their way to their usual seats in the back of the bus. Token noticed Stan and Kyle talking urgently to each other, and they looked worried. Token could only imagine how they must be feeling about Kenny’s disappearance. They were an even closer-knit group than Token and his friends.

Token sat with Jimmy across from Craig and Clyde. He didn’t want to stare directly at them, so instead he watched them with his peripherals. He saw Clyde lean over to whisper to Craig again and Token desperately wished he knew what he was saying. Craig raised his head and looked at Clyde, and even out of the corner of his view, Token could see the deep sadness in Craig’s eyes.

It never really occurred to Token just how much in love with Tweek Craig was. He often saw them kissing, and Craig was quite over protective of the twitchy blond, and Token knew Craig was in denial whenever said he wasn’t in love with Tweek. Whoever took Tweek was a sick and cruel person.

The first class Token and his friends had together was Chemistry. They all thought it was boring, but their teacher, Mr. Johnston made it a little bit more tolerable. He was always showing the class weird chemical mixes that did amazing things. But when the class went to recreate the results, they could never remember how to do it.

Mr. Johnston was a middle-aged man with graying hair and a long nose. He spoke with authority and dignity, and he was very tall. Even though he was a nice teacher, and he had passion for his work, Token couldn’t remember a time when he had ever smiled.

“All right, class,” Mr. Johnston said, “Gather around, please. I have something to show you.” The class all swarmed around the work table the teacher was at. “Here we see a simple lab mouse.” He gestured to a cage he had in front of him. A black mouse was scurrying around, squeaking, and nibbling on cheese.

“How cute!” Wendy exclaimed.

“Indeed,” Mr. Johnston said, “Now, notice how much the mouse squeaks. It is quite the noisy mouse, no? But see what happens when I inject it with this serum.” He pulled out a syringe filled with a strange liquid. He picked up the mouse and injected the liquid into its back. He put the mouse back, where it continued squeaking. Suddenly, however, it stopped.

“What happened?” Stan wondered.

“The mouse is now silent, as you can see,” Mr. Johnston explained, “It is trying to squeak, but no noise will come out. It is mute.”

“Gee, that’s kind of creepy,” Butters muttered, rubbing his knuckles together. Several of his classmates agreed.

For the rest of class, Mr. Johnston had them copy notes on the board. Token tried to concentrate, but he never really got the hang of science, and all the words and numbers started to jumble together. Sighing, he looked over at the work table next to his where Craig and Clyde were sitting.

Craig also appeared to have trouble concentrating, as he was just scribbling randomly in his notebook. Clyde wasn’t even looking at the board and instead was whispering to Craig. As Token stared, he saw Clyde slowly lower one of his hands to under the table and gently rested it on Craig’s leg. Token again felt a strange anger rising in him. He turned back to his own notebook to keep it from getting any worse.

At lunch time, it appeared Craig had scared Jackson away, as the asshole decided not to bother them today. For that, Token was very glad.

“Wasn’t Chemistry i-i-interesting today?” Jimmy asked as he sat down with his friends.

“Interesting isn’t exactly the word I would use,” Token admitted, “That mouse going mute? What was up with that? It was so weird.”

Token looked at Clyde and Craig, waiting for a response from at least Clyde, but Clyde wasn’t paying attention. He had an arm around Craig, pressing him close, and whispering into his ear. Token felt something snap inside him.

“Clyde, can I talk to you privately for a moment?” he requested.

A little startled, Clyde looked at him. “Uh, sure Token,” he replied. Giving Craig a quick squeeze around the shoulders, Clyde followed Token out of the cafeteria.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, Token rounded on Clyde. “I know what you’re doing,” he started. Clyde looked confused.

“Oh? And what am I doing?” he asked.

“Don’t play games with me, Clyde,” Token warned, “I know you have feelings for Craig.” He watched with satisfaction as Clyde’s cheeks started turning red.

“So, what?” he muttered, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I know what you’re doing,” Token repeated, “I’ve seen how close you’ve suddenly gotten to him ever since Tweek disappeared. I’ll bet he thinks you’re just comforting him. But we both know what you’re really doing.”

Clyde’s expression started turning dark. “What exactly are you implying, Token?” he said lowly.

“You’re trying to make him fall in love with you,” Token accused, “You think I haven’t noticed? I’ve seen how intimate you are towards him. You think because Tweek is gone you can move in on him, don’t you?”

Glaring, Clyde took a threatening step towards him. “What’s wrong with me trying to comfort him?” he growled, murderously, “I’m his best friend. Of course I’m going to be closer to him than others. And if he just so happens to fall in love with me in the process, then what’s the big deal?”

“Because we both know you’re trying to force it,” Token hissed, “Hugging him, kissing him, whispering to him. That’s not what a normal best friend would do when they’re trying to cheer up a friend.”

“Like you would ever know, Token!” Clyde snapped, “You think you know everything! Why don’t keep your nose out of other people’s business and let them live their lives the way they like?”

“I’m not going to let you take advantage of Craig!” Token shouted, feeling his rage starting to boil over.

“I’m not taking advantage of him!” Clyde yelled back.

“Oh, that’s bullshit, and you know it!” Token scoffed, “You know how deeply he loves Tweek! He’s Craig’s whole world! Funny how he’s suddenly gone now, huh? Pretty convenient for you, don’t you think?”

Clyde looked like he wanted to murder Token. “Are you accusing me of something?” he growled, eyes narrowing.

“Maybe you had something to do with it,” Token replied, “Maybe not. Why don’t you tell me, Clyde?”

“I had nothing to do with Tweek’s disappearance!” Clyde snarled, “How dare you accuse me of that!”

“Uh huh,” Token sneered, “Tell me, Clyde, because I’m curious. When you were ‘comforting’ Craig, exactly how long did it take before you started making out with him?”

That seemed to do it for Clyde. He took a step forward and swung at Token, punching him clean across the face. Token didn’t even see it coming. He had expected Clyde to storm off in a rage or something. He stumbled backwards, falling to the floor, and holding his face where he was hit. He glared up at Clyde who stood over him doing the same.

“I’m not going to let you hurt him, Clyde,” Token warned him, “Don’t you think he’s been through enough heartache already without you manipulating him?”

A low growl of anger escaped Clyde’s throat as he glared down at Token. He moved to take another swing at Token, and Token flinched, but this time someone stopped him. Before Clyde could move, Craig grabbed his arm from behind.

“What are you doing?” Craig asked, shock and anger clear in his voice.

“W-W-Why d-d-did you h-h-hit Token?” Jimmy, who was right beside Craig, wondered. It was clear the tension was making his stutter come back.

Clyde looked at them, then looked down at Token. He tried hard to calm his rage. “Sorry,” he said, letting out a hissing breath, “I got mad and I took it out on Token.”

“I won’t ask what this is about,” Craig promised, “But we’re supposed to be friends. We don’t take our anger out on each other.” He looked away, and Token heard him murmur under his breath. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

Token suddenly felt horrible. He knew he should’ve controlled his anger better, and probably shouldn’t have been so accusatory. But Clyde needed to see what he was doing was wrong. Why couldn’t he try to earn Craig’s love by simply being a good friend? Maybe Craig wouldn’t be in love with him, but on the other hand it could only make their friendship stronger by being there for him in his time of need.

Craig walked over to Token and helped him to his feet. “Are you ok?” he asked quietly.

Token gently rubbed his face where he had been struck. Nothing seemed broken, his face just felt sore. “I’m fine,” he replied at last. He cast a soft glare at Clyde. “Clyde hits like a girl anyway.”

Clyde growled at him, but said nothing more.

…

It was dark, very dark. And it was also very cold. Tweek was shivering violently as he lay on the dank, stone floor. The shackles around his wrists were rattling angrily, but he couldn’t help it. It was so very cold. Tweek had lost track of how much time had passed. He knew of only a few things.

One, he was in someone’s house. He didn’t know whose, though, because he had been blindfolded when he was put in the car. Two, he was in a secret basement; a basement under the basement. One that he was certain no one would be able to find if they searched the house. Three, he was afraid. Why was he here? He had no idea. He had only seen the man who took him briefly when he came down to give him food and water. Four, there was someone else here. After a few days the man had brought someone else down there and shackled them up as well. Tweek had no idea who it was, as they hadn’t woken yet.

As Tweek laid on the floor, he suddenly heard the door open again. A light from the room above flooded the basement, making Tweek cringe. Someone was suddenly in front of him, undoing his shackles. Tweek was roughly pulled to his feet and dragged up the stairs to the first basement. Tweek blinked rapidly at the harsh light, and it took him several moments before his eyes adjusted. When they had, he was quite surprised by who was dragging him along.

“J-Jackson?” Tweek stammered, “What…? You…?”

Jackson turned and sneered at him. “Surprised to see me, fag?” he laughed, “Don’t get your hopes up. I’m not freeing you. I’m the reason you were kidnapped in the first place.”

Tweek felt his heart pounding in fear. “You were the one who kidnapped me?”

“Not me, you idiot!” Jackson sneered, “My dad! I told him to kidnap you!”

He dragged Tweek up another flight of stairs to the main house. He pulled him to a room and shoved him inside. Tweek felt his anxiety flaring up. It was a bedroom. Why was he taken here? Shivering, he turned to face Jackson.

“Why?” he whispered, “Why would you do this?”

Jackson’s sneer started to fade, and he suddenly looked serious. He walked over to Tweek, and, without any warning, cupped his face in his hands, leaned in and kissed him deeply. Tweek’s eyes widened. What was going on?! Why was this happening? Tweek took a few steps backwards, and bumped against the bed. Jackson shoved him onto it, then climbed on top of him. Tweek stared up at him in fear.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Jackson breathed, “For a very long time.”

“Waiting for what?” Tweek whispered, afraid of the answer.

Jackson leaned in to whisper in his ear. “To fuck you,” he hissed, “I’ve been wanting to fuck you for such a long time.” He leaned back and grinned cruelly. “All right, I’ll admit, I’m attracted to you. Have been ever since I laid eyes on you. But I can’t let people know I’m attracted to a guy. So, I tormented you. I attacked you.”

Tweek could barely process what Jackson was saying. He was trembling. “You’re… attracted to me?” he breathed.

“That fucker, Craig, kept you away from me,” Jackson continued, “Whenever I’m with a chick, I have trouble getting hard, so I think of you. But now, I don’t have to fantasize anymore. I have you all to myself.”

With that, Jackson leaned down and kissed Tweek again. Tweek flinched, and his heart started pounding as Jackson forced his tongue into his mouth. As he kissed the blond, Jackson started grinding his hips against him. Tweek shuddered, and Jackson moved to kiss his neck. He could feel the bully getting hard.

“Oh God,” Jackson breathed into Tweek’s neck, “You taste so good. I can’t stand much more! I have to be inside you!”

Jackson sat up and quickly pulled his shirt off. Then he leaned over Tweek, and quickly unbuttoned his shirt, ripping the last few buttons off in his anticipation. Tweek could only watch in horror as Jackson undid his own pants, letting his erection spring free. He was afraid that if he tried to struggle, tried to get away, Jackson would do something horrible to him. He might even threaten to hurt Craig.

Jackson sighed as he started stroking his member, coating it in his precum. He looked down at Tweek and grinned. Tweek squeezed his eyes shut as he felt Jackson start sliding his pants and boxers off. He shuddered at the cold air that touched his skin. Jackson leaned down and started kissing Tweek again as he adjusted himself over him. He paused right before he entered him.

“God, this is going to feel so good,” he whispered, “Brace yourself, little man.”

Then he thrusted himself into Tweek. Tweek gasped with pain as Jackson started rhythmically thrusting into him. He was pushing hard and fast, sighing with content.

“Oh God…!” Jackson sighed, “Oh my fucking God, this feels so good! Oh… why have I never done this with you before?” He started panting and leaned over Tweek so he could thrust deeper. He started kissing Tweek’s neck. He was feeling pleasure, but all Tweek could feel was pain. Unimaginable pain, unlike any he had ever experienced before.

Tweek felt tears coming to his eyes as Jackson continued his thrusting. He wanted it to end. He hated this so much. Why was this happening to him? He felt Jackson’s hot breath on his neck, and he could hear his low moans in his ear. Tweek opened his mouth and let out a slow, pained cry.

“Yes…” Jackson panted, “Yes! Yes!” He gasped as he hit Tweek’s prostate, as did Tweek. “Fuck! Fuck, yes! Oh God, this is amazing! This is the kind of sex I’ve been waiting for! Yes!” He called out with pleasure and he started thrusting harder to hit that spot again. Tweek cried out, his voice filled with pain.

“CRAIG!” he found himself crying out. “Please save me!”

“Don’t you dare utter that fag’s name!” Jackson growled, “Not while I’m fucking you!” To make his point, he thrusted into Tweek even harder. Tweek gasped with pain.

“Oh God…” Jackson hissed, “I-I’m going t-to…!” He didn’t finish his sentence as his orgasm cut him off. Tweek shuddered violently as he felt Jackson release inside him. It was the worst feeling in the world. Jackson pressed his face into Tweek’s shoulder, panting hard as he rode out his wave of pleasure. When it was finally over, Jackson collapsed on top of Tweek, breathing hard.

“Fuck,” he panted, “That was probably the best sex I’ve ever had. You feel so good.”

Tweek couldn’t reply. He was breathing hard and desperately wishing he was dead. Or at least that Jackson would take his dick out of him. He could feel hot tears running down his face, and his insides felt like they were on fire.

After regaining his breath, Jackson slowly pulled out of him. “That was fantastic,” he sighed. He grinned cruelly down at Tweek. “I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.”

When Tweek was brought back to the basement and shackled up, he curled up on the floor, sobbing silently. As he felt sleep over take him, he could only think of how he dreaded the next day.


	5. Butters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Butters tries to cheer up his friends, and they try to figure out what to do. And the kidnapper's intentions are revealed.

Friday was Butters’s happy day. It was the end of the week, the weekend was around the corner, only one day of school left. Usually Butters was excited. But not today.

Kenny and Tweek were gone. The police had no leads, and no clues. They only thing they did know was where they were abducted, as a smashed cellphone had been found at both places. Kenny’s family were horrified that their son had been kidnapped right in front of their own house.

When Butters got on the bus that morning, the mood was sour and damp. He decided to sit next to Cartman and across from Kyle and Stan.

“Hey, Eric,” Butters greeted him, “Uh, how ya doing?”

Cartman looked at him as if just realizing he was there. “It’s odd Butters,” he said in a completely emotionless voice, “I never thought I cared much about Kenny. He was just the odd one in our group who always dies or is ignored. But now that he’s gone, it’s like there’s something missing.” He lowered his gaze to the floor. “It would be one thing if he were dead. Then we would know he would come back, or go to Heaven or whatever. But knowing he’s been kidnapped, with the kidnapper doing God knows what to him, it makes it worse.”

Butters stared at him as he went silent. He had never heard Eric sound so emotionless and empty before. Hesitating only a moment, Butters put an arm around his shoulders and patted him gently. Normally Cartman would berate him for such a “gay” gesture, but he just sat there, accepting Butters’s gesture.

The mood at school wasn’t much better. Everyone kept to tight groups, and no one was alone. Butters highly doubted someone would be abducted in the middle of the day at school, but one could never be too careful.

Before first period started, the students were sitting around, chatting. Butters sat with Stan and his friends, trying to make them feel better about Kenny. He noticed Craig and his friends sitting behind them, and that Craig had his head in his arms, asleep. Butters didn’t want to draw attention to it, but Stan did. He leaned back in his desk and nudged him.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Craig mumbled, not opening his eyes, “I couldn’t stop hearing Tweek’s voice in my head. It sounded like he was calling out for me, crying for help. I couldn’t stand it.”

“Golly,” Butters murmured, “That sure is spooky.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Kyle asked him, “Maybe you should go to the nurse’s office and lay down?”

“I’m fine,” Craig muttered, “I just need to close my eyes for a few minutes.”

Stan sighed. “I didn’t sleep well last night either,” he admitted, “I kept worrying about Kenny. I hope he’s ok.”

Butters hoped so too.

…

Much like a lot of the other boys, Butters had not changed much. He had mostly just grown taller, but not by a lot. The only boy in their class who was shorter than him was Tweek. He was also one of the only boys who didn’t seem interested in dating anyone. He was perfectly content going on his merry way, without “someone tying him down.” He still had a few nervous habits, though, such as rubbing his knuckles together, and mumbling when he got nervous.

The rest of Butters’s day went by almost uneventfully. On Fridays, instead of regular Gym class, every student had swimming. The swimming coach, Coach Rottenburg, was very different from the Gym teacher, Mr. Pounsya. Rottenburg was a hard task master, and accepted few excuses from students trying to get out of swimming. Not even girls on their periods were excused. The only students allowed to sit out of swimming were students with physical injuries, such as broken or sprained bones, or students with notes from their doctors saying they were allergic to chlorine, which was what Tweek and Kyle had done. “Forgetting your swim suit” wasn’t a good enough reason either, as the coach had a lot of extra (and rather embarrassing) swim suits for students to use. (The guys who forgot their swim trunks were forced to wear speedos.) Tweek, Kyle, Jimmy, and Timmy were the only ones forever excused from having to swim. Instead, they would sit in the bleachers and work on other school work instead.

Butters didn’t know if Kyle and Tweek were really allergic to chlorine, or if they had somehow convinced their doctors to give them a note saying they were. Either way, Butters was envious of them. He hated swimming class. A lot of the other guys *cough* Jackson *cough* made fun of how skinny he was, and some of the girls would often poke fun at him. One time Cartman had dunked him under water and almost drowned him. If Kyle hadn’t informed Rottenburg, Butters was sure he would have.

When the class came into the pool area in their swimsuits, Coach Rottenburg was waiting for them. He was chewing on something that may have been tobacco, but Butters was just going to tell himself was gum.

The class was lined up, with Kyle, Timmy, and Jimmy sitting in the bleachers. Rottenburg looked the class up and down, back and forth. Then he walked over and stood in front of Clyde, glaring down at him.

“CLYDE!” Rottenburg barked, causing Clyde to flinch, “WHERE IS CRAIG?”

“He’s in the nurse’s office, sir,” Clyde replied calmly. The coach’s voice was still echoing off the walls. “He was really tired and – “

“I DON’T CARE!” Rottenburg hollered, “JUST TELL HIM HE OWES ME SOME EXTRA LAPS! NOW EVERYONE INTO THE POOL!”

Butters cringed when Rottenburg blew his whistle and everyone jumped into the pool. The water was freezing, and Butters instantly felt all of his body heat leave him. He wondered if the ocean near Antarctica was this cold. When he surfaced, he was shivering, and noticed a lot of others were as well.

“TWENTY LAPS! NOW!” Coach yelled.

Sighing, Butters started swimming to the other side of the pool. Was there ever going to be a time when either of their phys ed teachers weren’t going to just have them do laps?

…

After class everyone hit the showers. While Butters wasn’t embarrassed to shower in front of other guys, he sometimes wished that the school provided barriers for their privacy. A lot of the boys had just hit puberty, and no one wants to go over how messy and confusing that could be. Butters especially hated showering in the same room as Jackson, but then again, who didn’t?

“Do you fellas think Coach Rottenburg likes the sound of his own voice and that’s why he shouts all the time?” Butters asked Stan and Cartman who were standing near him. He noticed that everyone was quiet and wanted to try to lighten the mood.

Stan smiled slightly. “You know, I never thought of that before,” he said, “It wouldn’t surprise me. It echoes like crazy in there.”

“I’m surprised Jackson isn’t constantly yelling in there,” Cartman muttered under his breath, “He loves the sound of his own voice.”

The three of them snickered as they washed the chlorine out of their hair and off their bodies. If it was one thing Butters did like about having Gym and swimming, it was that it was their last class of the day, so they could be as slow as they wanted when showering and getting dressed. And no one had to go around school for the rest of the day with wet, unruly hair.

Kyle was waiting for them in the main locker rooms when the three came out. Since he hadn’t swam, he didn’t have to shower. He looked up from the book he had been reading when Butters, Stan, and Cartman came in.

“You know, just because you guys can take your time to shower doesn’t mean you have to,” he pointed out.

Stan walked over and put an arm around his friend’s shoulders, still dripping wet. “Yeah, but the school gets better water pressure than my house for some reason,” he explained, “Better to get thoroughly cleaned here than take an hour doing so at my house.”

“Stan, you’re still wet,” Kyle observed.

Butters found himself walking home with the three of them. He didn’t mind that he was basically there to fill in the void that Kenny had left. Anything for some of the only ones he considered friends. And he had done it before. But of course, this time the mood was much more heavy and thick.

“Uh, hey you feelin’ okay over there, Stan?” Butters asked him, noticing the boy looked a bit more down than before.

“Huh?” Stan said as if he was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts, “Oh, yeah I guess. I was just thinking about this story Kenny told us.”

“What story is that?” Butters wondered.

“He told us about this news story he read about this kidnapper from North Park,” Stan explained, “He kidnapped a bunch of kids and was never found. That was ten years ago, and they never found him or the kids he kidnapped.”

“Golly!” Butters gasped, “I sure do hope that’s not all happening again!” He started rubbing his knuckles together. “I wouldn’t stand the thought that any of us could be kidnapped and never see each other again.”

Butters was a little startled when Cartman scoffed. “Well if Kenny and Tweek really were kidnapped, we really will never see them again,” he hissed bitterly, “The police in this town are so worthless. They only care about beating up homeless people and minorities.”

Cartman turned to his friends. “Something needs to be done about this,” he declared, “They should really bring in people in from the outside or something. Someone competent.”

“I wish we could do something,” Kyle muttered, “I don’t mean to sound smug, but I’m pretty sure we’re smarter than the police. Remember when we were kids? There were several times when we helped the police solve crimes.”

Stan snickered. “Yeah, I remember.” He let out a sigh. “I kind of want to be a detective when I get older. Solve crimes in South Park, and actually help people.”

“Wow, Stan,” Butters awed, “That’s a noble goal.”

“Thanks Butters,” Stan said, smiling slightly.

…

When Butters got home that evening, his parents weren’t home. He panicked a little until he remembered that they had made a date night for themselves. He found a note on the table saying what restaurant they had gone to, what number to call if there was an emergency, and that they left pizza money for him.

Smiling, Butters called up the pizza place and ordered a pizza. Then he flopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. His parents didn’t have Netflix or Hulu or anything like that, so he had to settle with whatever was on. He flipped on the news and settled into the couch.

Because South Park is a small boring town, all the news was talking about was the disappearance of Kenny and Tweek and how the police still had no leads. Butters sighed. Cartman was right. It was starting to look like they really wouldn’t be seeing Kenny and Tweek again. Were there really no clues other than the smashed cell phones to go off of?

His thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang. Licking his lips in anticipation of pizza, Butters snatched the money off the table and went to answer the door.

“Gee, you got here really fast!” he said as he opened the door. But then he frowned. That wasn’t the pizza guy. What was he doing here?

“Um, can I help you sir?” Butters asked.

“Yes,” the man said, “You can come along quietly so I don’t have to shoot you.” The man had a gun pointed right at the boy. Butters’s eyes widened.

“Sir!” he whispered, “You…? Why?”

“I don’t have time to answer that,” the man sighed, “Now come along, Butters. Don’t make this difficult.” He pressed the gun to Butters’s chest.

Butters shuddered, tears coming to his eyes. The man took his arm and led him over to his car. He made Butters give him his cellphone and smashed it on the ground. Just like before. Butters could feel his panic rising, but he tried to fight it back. He didn’t want to get shot and killed. He obeyed the man and got into the back of the car. He was blindfolded before the car drove away.

…

Butters didn’t know if he was relieved when he saw that Tweek and Kenny were still alive, or horrified by the state they were in. Kenny had his knees tucked up to his chest and was staring down at the ground. He looked haunted. Tweek was laying on his side, shivering violently and twitching. He had his arms wrapped around himself and his eyes squeezed shut. He was also breathing harshly. They both looked skinnier than when Butters saw them last.

“Kenny,” Butters breathed, “Tweek.”

The man turned on a light above them, filling the room with a very dull light. He grabbed Butters and dragged him over to the wall where many prison shackles were. He chained Butters by his wrists and walked over to a table on the far side of the wall.

While he was busy, Butters looked over at Kenny. His eyes were dull and Butters wondered if he even realized he was there yet.

“Kenny,” Butters hissed to him, “Kenny! You ok?”

There was a moment of silence before Kenny lifted his head and looked at him. His eyes seemed to spark with life for a moment.

“Butters,” he whispered, “He got you too?”

“Yeah,” Butters replied. He wanted to try to laugh a little to lighten the mood, but he couldn’t do it. “He took me from my own home. I was waiting for pizza, and my parents were on a date.”

Kenny shuddered. “He’s getting bold,” he muttered.

Butters shifted uncomfortably. “Are you two ok?” he asked, “He hasn’t hurt you guys, has he?” Kenny shook his head.

“No,” he replied, “Not yet, at least. He feeds us and lets us out to go to the bathroom. But other than that, he hasn’t really done anything. I don’t know what he wants from us.”

Butters was at a loss. What did he want with them? Why did he kidnap them? At that moment, the man turned back around. He was holding some sort of audio recorder. He walked over to the three kids and stood in front of them.

“Test Date: Day one,” he said into the device, “I now have enough subjects to begin the tests, but more subjects will have to be acquired soon, of course. For now, though, this will do. I will now administer the serum to Subject #1.”

The man put the device down and walked back to the table. With his back turned, Butters couldn’t tell what he was doing, but when he turned back around, he was holding a syringe filled with a strange liquid. He walked over and crouched down next to Tweek.

Tweek opened his eyes and stared with fear up at the man. The man grabbed Tweek by the hair, holding him still. Butters watched with horror as the man stuck the needle into Tweek’s neck, and Tweek flinched harshly. After the syringe was empty, the man stood up and walked back over to the table to disinfect the needle and refill.

While he did that, Butters leaned over as close as he could to Tweek. “Are you ok?” he asked, worried. Tweek didn’t respond, but simply lay there, breathing hard.

The man came back over with the syringe and recorder. “I will now inject Subject #2,” he said. Then he walked over to Kenny. Kenny tried to scramble away from him, but his movements were severely hindered by the shackles. The man seized his arm and injected Kenny, again in the neck. Kenny convulsed violently and curled up into a ball. The man went to the table to prep again as Butters stared over at Kenny, worried.

“And now I will inject Subject #3,” the man said to his device.

Butters shrunk back against the wall, even though he knew it was no use. The man pinned Butters’s head back against the wall and stuck the needle in his neck. Butters tried not to cry out with pain, but he did let out an “ow!” He had never liked needles. And the man hadn’t even given them anything to numb the pain.

The man stood up and stood in front of the three. “And now we will wait for the subjects to start showing their signs. Shouldn’t be long.”

Butters had no idea what he was talking about. He wanted to ask, but he was afraid to answer. A few minutes of silence went by, and Butters felt his fear growing more and more. Suddenly, he heard a high-pitched frightened whine coming from Tweek. He had shrunk back against the wall and was staring wide-eyed at seemingly nothing.

“What’s wrong with me?” he breathed, “I-I can’t see! I’ve gone blind!” He looked absolutely terrified, and Butters could understand why.

The man made no reaction. “Subject #1 has lost his vision,” he said to the recorder, “As is expected. But I am still waiting on the other two.”

“What’s going on here?” Kenny snarled, “What did you do to us?”

“Please calm yourself,” the man stated calmly, “You might cause a change in the reaction. Then the test will be ruined.”

“I don’t care!” Kenny snapped, “What do I care if your sick experiments are ruined?”

“Hmm… has your vision changed at all yet?” the man asked, ignoring his outrage.

“Like I’d tell you!” Kenny hissed  
.  
The man sighed. “Subject #2 is being difficult. I may have to apply disciplinary actions to get him to cooperate. For now though, let’s move on to Subject #3.” He crouched down in front of Butters and stared intensely at him.

Butters had noticed that his left eye had slowly lost its vision, and whatever else he could see suddenly turned black and white. Just what was that serum?! What had the man done to them? Butters shivered as the man reached forward and pulled open his eyelid to look at his eye. He nodded.

“Subject #3 has lost vision in his left eye and his right eye seems to be experiencing color loss. Perhaps a sign of color blindness. Interesting. Very interesting. Will have to follow up with further testing tomorrow.”

The man stood up and set everything back on the desk. He walked over to the entrance of the basement, and looked back at his subjects once. Then he shut the door.


	6. Tweek/Kyle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tweek gets brief insight into Jackson's mind, and Kyle learns of Butters's kidnapping. He and Stan finally decide to do something about all this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Mild rape scene at the beginning! If you don't like that sort of stuff, skip Tweek's part.

Jackson sat up, panting, as he finally finished his orgasm and stared down at Tweek. He had dragged the twitchy blond back up to the bedroom to have sex with him, and Jackson had again been forceful. Tweek was breathing hard, feeling even more frightened than before. At least the first time he had been able to see. But because of the man’s injection, he was blind now, and couldn’t see what Jackson was doing.

He felt Jackson gently lay himself over him and start kissing his neck. He had not yet pulled out.

“God, I needed that,” Jackson breathed as he ran his lips over Tweek’s neck, “This week has been so aggravating, I just really needed a good fuck. I’m so glad it’s the weekend. I’m sure my dad won’t mind if you spend all your time with me.”

Tweek shuddered at what he was insinuating. He wished Jackson would just get out of him already so he could go back to the basement. But it seemed that wasn’t going to happen. He knew it was late at night, but he didn’t know exactly what time it was. He felt Jackson shift on top of him and he shuddered again.

“You’re spending the night with me,” Jackson whispered in his ear, “I just want to stay inside you all night. I want to feel your skin against mine.”

“Please,” Tweek breathed, feeling tears coming to his eyes, “I just want to go back down to the basement. I would rather be there.”

Jackson let out a snide laugh. “Yeah right!” he sneered, “I know you’d rather be warm and comfortable with me than cold and damp down in some lousy basement! I’m doing you a favor!”

Tweek let out a small breath. He really did wish he could be anywhere else right now. He felt Jackson gently run his thumb over his cheek to wipe away a tear. He let out a small laugh.

“Hmm… Tweek,” he hummed, “I think I may love you.”

Love?! Did Jackson really think he was in love with him? Tweek knew what love was; after all, he was deeply in love with Craig. How could Jackson say that?

Tweek didn’t get to ask him as Jackson adjusted himself so he could kiss Tweek deeply on the lips. He felt Jackson start to move inside him again, and he trembled. Was this how it was going to be from now on? Forced to lay there helplessly as Jackson mercilessly raped him?

After a while, Jackson settled himself comfortably on top of Tweek, his face in his neck as he fell asleep. But Tweek couldn’t sleep. He felt unclean. He felt like his whole world was falling apart. Jackson was still deep inside him, and he couldn’t move. They both smelled like sweat and sex. Tweek was exhausted, and his eyes felt heavy, but he knew he wouldn’t sleep. Not until Jackson was off of him.

“Craig…” Tweek whispered, “I wish there was a way I could tell you where I am. So that you could save me.”

Tweek had no idea if it was near morning or not. Without his eyesight, he couldn’t see the room slowly getting lighter. His heart momentarily stopped, and he gasped loudly, and flinched violently when the alarm clock suddenly went off. The noise and movement startled Jackson awake.

“Huh-? Where-?” he exclaimed. But then he regained his senses. “Oh, did my alarm startle you?” he asked in a purring voice, “Sorry, love, I forgot you couldn’t see.” Tweek shivered when he felt Jackson lean down and lightly kiss his neck.

Relief came for Tweek when he finally felt Jackson pull out of him and get up. He heard him walk around the room and gather their clothes as Tweek curled up into a ball. He suddenly felt Jackson grab his arm and pull him roughly to his feet.

“Come on,” he grunted, “You’re going to take a shower with me.”

Tweek tried not to let out a sob. He didn’t want to shower with Jackson. He would rather stay dirty and not have Jackson touch him anymore. And he was almost certain that Jackson would start getting intimate with him.

Jackson took Tweek’s hand and led him somewhere; Tweek assumed it was the bathroom. He heard Jackson close a door and soon heard the sound of a shower head turning on. He felt Jackson take his hands and pull him into the shower. Warm water washed over Tweek’s body, and as much as he hated to admit it, it did feel really good.

Tweek felt his entire body freeze up as Jackson started touching him. The older boy wrapped his arms around him and gently started kissing his neck. Tweek could only stare sightlessly at the floor as he felt Jackson slowly start to move his hands around his body. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily as Jackson tilted his head back and kissed his lips. He was wrapped even tighter as Jackson kissed him deeper. Tweek shivered as Jackson moaned into his mouth.

“Mmm… you know, I’ve always wanted to have shower sex,” Jackson said as he pulled away a little, “I always hated that you refused to take showers at school with the rest of us. I just wanted to see your wet, naked body.” He chuckled. “Sometimes I thought about how I’d trap you there and have sex with you. Guess I don’t need to fantasize anymore.”

Tweek didn’t respond. So, all those times Jackson taunted him for being shy, he had been secretly lusting after him. He felt Jackson’s arms drop, and even though he couldn’t see, Tweek knew what was coming next. It was still a shock, though and Tweek let out a loud gasp as Jackson adjusted him and forcefully entered him.

“Ah! Oh, it feels so good!” Jackson sighed. He slowly started rolling his hips and thrusting into Tweek. He was being much more gentle than before, but that only served to unnerve Tweek. He still hated this. Jackson was moaning and panting in his ear. Tweek shuddered with each thrust and moan.

After Jackson had reached his climax, crying out loudly as he did so, he pulled out of Tweek and rested his face in the crook of his neck, breathing hard. “Fuck,” he panted, “That was fantastic. Making love to you is amazing. I wish we didn’t have basic human needs so I could just fuck you forever.”

Again, Tweek said nothing. “Making love.” Is that really what Jackson thought he was doing? How could rape possibly be considered love making?

Tweek was distracted by his thoughts as he felt Jackson gently start to wash him. He shivered slightly as Jackson’s hands moved around so delicately, as if he was just his lover bathing him. When he was done, Jackson wrapped his arms around Tweek again, pulling him close against his body and let the water wash over them. Jackson leaned down and kissed Tweek deeply, sighing with lust as he did so. He pulled away for just a brief moment.

“I love you,” he whispered, before leaning down and kissing Tweek again.

…

Kyle was haunted by his nightmares. He panted heavily as he slept, clutching his blankets unconsciously as he tried to escape the danger in his dream. He felt his sanity slipping away from him, and before it could overwhelm him, Kyle woke with a gasp.

Looking around the room, Kyle saw the early rays of morning seeping in. Everything was ok for now. There was no danger. But Kyle was still shaking, the memory of his nightmare still gripping him. He took a moment to collect himself before getting out of bed.

Today was Saturday, so that meant no school. Kyle didn’t have to be up so early, but he knew he wasn’t going to be getting back to sleep. He went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, took a shower, and got dressed. When he went downstairs, no one else was awake yet. That wasn’t very surprising, though. He would be surprised if anyone was up before noon.

Kyle started making a pot of coffee and making eggs for himself before stepping outside to grab the morning paper. He didn’t glance at the front page as he stepped back inside. Having breakfast, sipping coffee, and reading the paper wasn’t something Kyle normally did in the morning, but he decided, well, I’ve already got everything out, so why the hell not? He opened the paper and looked at the headline and immediately his heart dropped.

Another Local Boy Missing! Police Still Clueless!  
Local fourteen-year-old Leopold “Butters” Stotch was snatched from his own household late last night! According to Stephen and Linda Stotch, they were on a date and had left their son alone. Leopold was reported missing when the pizza guy showed up to deliver a pizza, and no one ever answered. When he went to go back to his car, he noticed a smashed cell phone.

Breathing hard, Kyle couldn’t read anymore. “No,” he said out loud, “No no no no no no no no! Not Butters too!” He couldn’t lose another friend! It had been hard enough losing Kenny! Now the bastard had poor Butters as well?

Shaking, Kyle stumbled out of the kitchen, and quickly ran to the phone. He had to call Stan and Cartman. He wanted them to know before anyone else told them. Stan picked up the phone on the fifth ring.

“Dude, why are you calling so early on a Saturday?” Stan muttered when he finally answered.

“Stan,” Kyle whispered, “Butters was kidnapped last night.”

There was silence on the other end. “What?” Stan finally said, his voice shaking slightly.

“I know,” Kyle sighed, “I don’t understand it either. Why Butters? I mean, I know we always rip on him and act like we don’t care sometimes, but he’s so sweet and he’s still our friend.” He felt tears coming to his eyes. He felt like his pent-up sadness from Kenny going missing was coming out as well.

“Kyle, I’m coming over,” Stan decided, “We need to do something about this.”

Kyle was not really sure what he meant by that, but he nodded silently. Then it suddenly occurred to him that he was on the phone and Stan couldn’t see him. “Ok,” he replied. He listened as Stan hung up and he did the same.

It didn’t take long for Stan to get to Kyle’s house. He didn’t live that far away, and judging by how hard Stan was breathing when Kyle opened the front door to let him in, he guessed he probably ran the whole way.

“Are you ok?” Kyle asked.

“I’m fine,” Stan panted as he hunched over, catching his breath, “I just need to get in shape is all.”

“Of course,” Kyle said. He stepped aside to let Stan in. “What did you mean when you said we needed to do something about this?”

“I don’t want to lose any more friends, Kyle,” Stan explained, walking to the kitchen, “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, or Wendy, or God forbid, even Cartman. There’s already three kids gone, and the police are completely useless. If this sicko isn’t stopped, I guarantee he’ll keep kidnapping kids until he gets whatever it is he wants.”

“So, what are we going to do about it?” Kyle asked quietly.

“We need to start our own investigation,” Stan decided, “I know what you’re going to say, Kyle, and I don’t care. We have to do something. Maybe we have a chance to save them.”

“I wasn’t going to object,” Kyle told him, “I actually agree. Even if we can’t find everything, maybe we can find something the police missed that will help them.”

Kyle was a little surprised when Stan looked at him in shock. Had he expected him to refuse to help? Kyle would never do that. He wanted to find their friends as much as Stan did, and if nothing more, he wanted to keep Stan safe. It was dangerous to be alone these days, apparently even in your own home. He would be devastated if Stan was kidnapped as well.

Stan stood with determination. “We need to stick together,” he declared, holding out his hand, “We’ll find our friends if it kills us.”

Kyle smiled and took Stan’s hand, trying to hide the blush that was forming on his face. “Well, hopefully it won’t come to that,” he said as Stan pulled him to his feet. He looked away briefly so his face would go back to normal. He turned back to Stan. “So, where do we start?”

“I think we should go back to where it started,” Stan replied, “Where Tweek was first abducted.”

“Do you remember where that was?” Kyle wondered. He was ashamed to admit that he couldn’t remember. Even though it had been less than a week, with all the madness, it felt like it had been forever.

Stan grinned and pulled out a newspaper clipping from his pocket. “I wouldn’t be a detective if I didn’t,” he replied. He grabbed Kyle’s arm and started dragging him towards the door. “Come on! We’re burning daylight!”

“Stan, it’s not even nine o’ clock yet,” Kyle pointed out as they rushed out of the house.

…

Because it had been several days now, it was hard to determine the precise location where Tweek was when he was kidnapped. But Stan and Kyle did know that he had been taken somewhere between his own home and Craig’s house. They had the stretch of sidewalk between two streets locked down. Stan carefully combed one side of the street, while Kyle took care of the other. Eventually, Kyle noticed something shiny on the ground and crouched down. It appeared to the tiny bits of a smashed cell phone.

Well, now we know where Tweek was when he was taken, Kyle thought to himself. He stood and brushed off his hands. Then he looked up and startled, his heart stopping for a brief moment.

Craig was standing silently in front of him, staring directly at him. His eyes were slightly sunken in, as if he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep lately. Kyle wondered how he had snuck up on him. He also wondered if his heart was going to start beating again any time soon.

“What are you doing here, Craig?” Stan called as he jogged across the street to stand at Kyle’s side. Craig stared silently at Kyle for a moment more, as if he hadn’t heard Stan, before finally addressing him.

“I was on my way back from Clyde’s house,” he explained, “This street is on the way. I was wondering what you guys were doing. You know this is where…” He cut himself off, unable to say it.

“Um, we were actually looking into that,” Stan told him, “Butters was taken last night, if you didn’t hear. Kyle and I decided to do something about it, so we’re doing our own investigating. In case the police missed something.”

“Which they probably did,” Kyle added.

Craig nodded. “I want to help you guys,” he said.

Kyle blinked at him, surprised. “You want to help us?” he asked. Craig hardly ever offered his help, and even when he did, it was usually for some group effort, and he had his friends with him.

“Yes,” Craig replied, “I don’t want any of my other friends to be taken, and if there’s even a hope of finding Tweek, I’ll take it.”

Of course, it should’ve been obvious. Kyle felt slightly ashamed of himself for forgetting that Tweek and Craig were boyfriends. Craig was probably desperate to find him. He had been moping about Tweek’s disappearance all week.

Stan looked at Kyle, who nodded in agreement. “All right, you can help us,” Stan said.

“Good,” Craig sighed with relief, as if he thought they would reject him, “So, what do you guys have so far?”

“Well, we have an article Kenny told us about a similar incident that happened in North Park ten years ago,” Kyle answered, “And… that’s about it. Don’t judge us! We just got started this morning!”

Craig thought for a moment. “Do you guys have the article?” he wondered.

“Not with us,” Stan admitted, “But I’m sure it would be easy enough to find online. How about we finish up looking around here, then we’ll go back to my house.”

…

When the three of them got back to Stan’s house, none of Stan’s family were awake yet, despite it being past noon when they arrived. But that did mean Stan didn’t have to fight anyone for the computer. He did a search for the North Park kidnapping incident, and it pulled up the article Kenny had been talking about.

“Okay, let’s see here… there were twelve victims,” Stan muttered as he read the article, “All relatively the same age, went to the same school, but had different ethnicities and backgrounds… besides the same school, I don’t really see a connection between any of them.”

Kyle and Craig leaned to get a better look at the article. There were pictures of each of the kids that went missing. They all looked totally different from each other. But Kyle noticed something kind of odd.

“Are these pictures the order in which they were kidnapped?” he asked Stan.

Stan quickly scanned the article. “No,” he replied after a minute, “They’re in alphabetical order.” Kyle felt something stir within him.

“Try putting them in the order they were kidnapped,” he suggested, “Photoshop them.”

“I know! I know!” Stan whined, copying the pictures to a new document. Using the article as reference, he used Photoshop to rearrange the pictures in the correct order.

Now it was clear. Now it was obvious.

“Wow,” Stan breathed.

“The first three victims all had blond hair,” Craig said in a quiet voice, “Just like Tweek, Kenny, and Butters.”

“And then the next three had black hair,” Kyle continued, “The three after that had red hair. And the last three had brown hair.”

“How did their police miss that?” Stan wondered, “How did our police miss that?”

“And what does it mean?” Craig asked, “Why take three kids of each color hair? Is there a reason for it? And does that mean someone with black hair will be taken next?”

Kyle felt like his heart had just dropped into his stomach. Like a rock in his gut. He wondered if they had realized it yet.

Both Craig and Stan had black hair.


	7. Craig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig worries about what they've learned, and Clyde tells him something rather shocking. Then, later that night, Craig has a nightmare.

Craig felt his heart racing in his chest. Black hair. The next three victims all had black hair. While there was no guarantee he would be kidnapped next, or at all, but he couldn’t help but feel worried. When he and Stan left Kyle’s house, Craig was grateful that their houses were in the same direction so they could walk together. It felt safer that way. And when Stan separated from him, as they arrived at his house first, Craig ran the rest of the way home.

When Craig came into his living room, his sister, Tricia was sitting on the couch, watching TV. She didn’t even look at her brother as he entered.

“Token and Clyde called like seven times, and Jimmy called once,” she informed him.

“Really guys?” Craig sighed, sitting down next to his sister, “It’s barely past noon.” Lately, Craig was having a hard time dealing with Token and Clyde being in the same place at the same time. Ever since he had stopped Clyde from attacking Token, they weren’t getting along, and Craig desperately wanted to know why. Why couldn’t they just make up already? Life was already hard enough at the moment without two of his closest friends fighting.

Wondering if Jimmy knew anything about it, (and to reward him for only calling once), Craig called him back. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?” Jimmy answered.

“Hey Jimmy, it’s Craig.”

“O-oh, hey Craig! I was w-wondering when y-you’d call back,” Jimmy said.

“Sorry, I was out,” Craig told him, “Did you need something?”

“N-nah, I just wanted to chat,” Jimmy answered honestly, “It’s been so t-tense since Tweek disappeared. And Clyde and Token a-arguing all the time really isn’t h-helping.”

“That’s exactly how I feel,” Craig responded with a sigh, “Do you know why they’ve been fighting?”

“Not really,” Jimmy confessed, “I j-just know they f-fight more in private than they do in f-front of us. Maybe it has to do with one of us, or m-maybe they just d-don’t want to upset us.”

“Well, if it’s the latter, then they’re doing a crap job,” Craig said. He heard Jimmy let out a small chuckle.

“Boy, I’ll say,” he stated. They decided to switch topics and chatted for a while before Jimmy had to hang up. After that, Craig felt a little better, having gotten his mind off things for a while, but he was no closer to learning why Clyde and Token were fighting.

As much as Craig wanted to just ask either of them, he had a feeling that neither of them would give him a straight answer, or they would make something up. Sighing, he flopped down and stretched himself out on the couch, his sister having gone upstairs to her room. He groaned when he heard a knock on the door.

“It’s open!” he called. Right now, he was too tired to care if it was the kidnapper or not.

Clyde came into the room a moment later. “You really shouldn’t let people know your front door is open,” he said when he came in, “You never know what kind of sicko might hear you and come in.”

“Whatever,” Craig muttered, draping an arm across his eyes. He heard Clyde walk over and felt him sit on the edge of the couch.

“Are you ok?” Clyde asked, “You look kind of tired, and you never called me back.”

“I was out,” Craig replied, “I decided to go for an early morning walk, and I ran into Stan and Kyle.”

“What were they doing?” Clyde wondered.

“They decided to start their own investigation into the kidnappings,” Craig explained, “You know, since our police suck at their jobs? So, I offered to help them.”

He felt Clyde suddenly shift on the couch. “Why would you want to help those guys?” he asked in his most nonchalant voice. Craig raised his arm to look at him.

“Because I want to find out what happened to Tweek!” he hissed testily, “Whether he’s dead or alive, I want to believe there’s some hope that I’ll see him again!” Craig felt tears coming to his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. “I know he’s still alive. I just have to find him.” He let out a shuddering breath and covered his eyes again.

Clyde shifted on the couch, and Craig suddenly felt his friend lay on top of him. He moved his arm back to his side as Clyde stared down at him.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, “I didn’t mean to upset you. You’re right. If there’s a chance you can find Tweek, you should take it.”

Craig sighed and let his head fall back. He let out a small gasp when a moment later he felt Clyde start to kiss his neck. His breath hitched and he found himself involuntarily clutching Clyde’s jacket. Clyde kissed deeper, running his mouth along Craig’s throat, and Craig took a sharp breath.

“Clyde,” Craig said softly, “Why are you doing this?”

There was a pause as Clyde stopped his movements, his lips hovering above Craig’s throat. “What do you mean?” he asked cautiously.

“I know you’re not just kissing me to make me feel better,” Craig told him, “When we were kids you would comfort me by hugging me, and complimenting me. But recently you just keep kissing me and whispering in my ear. Why?”

He felt Clyde smirk against his skin. “Isn’t it obvious?” he wondered, “Well, I wanted to wait until later to tell you, but I guess I might as well say it now.” He paused to take a breath. “I love you, Craig,” he whispered, “And I don’t mean as a friend. I’m deeply in love with you. I want to be with you, and always be by your side.”

Craig opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. In the moment of silence, Clyde raised his head so he could kiss Craig directly on the lips. Because Craig still had his mouth open when it happened, it allowed Clyde easy access to slip his tongue inside. Craig felt a weird sort of tremor run through his body. No one had ever put their tongue in his mouth before. He and Tweek preferred more sweet, romantic closed-mouth kisses.

Clyde suddenly moaned into Craig’s mouth, and Craig trembled again. He couldn’t say he wasn’t enjoying this. Clyde was an excellent kisser, and knew how to make him feel good. But Craig couldn’t help but feel guilty, knowing he was betraying Tweek by letting Clyde do this. He could feel Clyde’s tongue exploring his mouth, moving slowly, and tasting every inch of him. He felt Clyde slowly move his hands to caress his neck as he kissed him deeper.

As Clyde’s kisses slowly grew more passionate and heated, Craig suddenly felt him grind against his hips, and Craig quickly shoved him away, gasping. “Clyde! I can’t do this!” he exclaimed. Clyde stared down at him confusion.

“Why not?” he wondered. Craig sighed.

“I’m still in love with Tweek,” he explained, “I know he’s still alive out there, and I can’t betray him like this. I love him too much to cheat on him with my best friend.”

Clyde’s expression grew dark for a moment, but it was gone before Craig could really see it. “Tweek’s not here right now,” he pointed out, “He’ll never know.”

But Craig still hesitated. “I can’t,” he said in a soft voice. Clyde suddenly looked desperate.

“It’s not like I’m asking you to have sex with me!” he argued, “Please, Craig! I’ve loved you for such a long time! Just let me kiss you! And I promise, if- I mean when they find Tweek I will never touch you again. I need to be with you!”

Staring up into Clyde’s eyes, Craig could see the lust and love he had for him. It actually rather frightened Craig a little to know that his best friend was so deeply in love with him all this time and he never knew. Taking a shuddering breath, Craig closed his eyes.

“Ok,” he whispered.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Clyde leaned down and kissed him again. All his breath left his body as Clyde kissed him deeply. He felt Clyde slowly wrap his arms around him so he could press Craig closer to his body. He felt a single shiver run up his spine as Clyde kissed him again and again. As Craig lay there, letting Clyde kiss him deeper and more passionately, he wondered just how long Clyde planned to kiss him for.

…

Later that night, after Clyde had finally stopped kissing Craig, the two went upstairs to bed. Again, Craig felt a weird sensation run through him as Clyde laid down next to him. It wasn’t that they hadn’t slept in each other’s beds before, but knowing how Clyde really felt about him made Craig wonder if there had always been more to Clyde sleeping really close to him or not. He had his back turned to Clyde, and Clyde had his arms wrapped around his waist, his torso pressed against his back, and face buried in the back of his neck. Craig shivered slightly as he felt Clyde’s warm breath on his neck.

When he finally fell asleep, he felt uneasy. A sudden sense of dread suddenly overcame him, and he had no idea why. Craig couldn’t even tell if he was asleep or not, as he felt his breathing get harder and his heart beat start racing. He could hear someone calling out for him, and it took him a moment to place the voice. That sweet voice that he hadn’t heard in almost a week. The one who kept him up at night.

It was Tweek, crying out for help, calling to him. Craig wanted to reach for him, but he had no idea where either of them were. Where was Tweek? And where was Craig? Tweek sounded sad and confused, and Craig wanted nothing more than to hold him in his arms and comfort him. He suddenly felt like Tweek was being taken away from and Craig called out to him desperately. Everything was quiet for a moment.

Suddenly, Craig felt a horrible and immense pressure inside of him, making him cry out with fear and pain. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and he felt the pressure moving inside him. Gasping, he thrashed around, trying to make the pain go away, but it was only getting worse. He heard someone, he was pretty sure it was Tweek, cry out, and he cried out along with him. He felt someone trying to restrain him, but he was writhing too much to calm down.

“CRAIG!” two voices called at once. Craig felt tears coming to his eyes as he suddenly realized what was happening. What this feeling was. He let out a single, pained, mourned cry, and suddenly his shoulders were pinned down and his eyes snapped open.

Clyde was hovering over him, pinning him down, and breathing hard. His eyes were wide with worry as he stared down at him. “Craig,” he breathed, “Are you ok? You were having some sort of nightmare, and I couldn’t wake you. You were talking in your sleep and thrashing around, and I just barely got you to stay still.”

Staring up at his friend in shock, Craig suddenly flung himself forward, throwing his arms around Clyde in a tight hug. Shocked, Clyde gently hugged him back, and became concerned when he felt Craig starting to shiver. Clyde slowly started rubbing his back to comfort him and whispered in his ear.

“It’s ok, Craig, you’re ok,” Clyde assured him quietly, “It was just a nightmare. You’ll be fine. Everything is fine.”

“But it wasn’t just a nightmare,” Craig whispered, “I heard Tweek. He was calling out to me, but I couldn’t find him. He sounded so sad and frightened.” He paused as another tremor ran through him, and Clyde held him tighter. “Then I felt like he was being taken away from me. And then, I suddenly felt something inside of me, something that wasn’t supposed to be there.”

Craig paused and took a deep breath. “Clyde,” he said in a tiny voice, “I think Tweek is being raped.”

He felt Clyde’s entire body tense up. It was several moments before he spoke. “It was just a dream, Craig,” he argued, “You can’t be certain that wherever Tweek is he’s being raped.”

“But this isn’t the first time something like this has happened,” Craig countered, “I’ve been having these dreams nearly every night this week. They keep getting more vivid and real.” He felt the tears start to come back to his eyes. “I think Tweek is in danger. I have to save him.”

Clyde gently nestled his face into Craig’s neck. “The best thing you can do for Tweek right now is get some sleep,” he told him, “You can’t get anything done if you’re tired. In the morning we can go with Stan and Kyle to investigate more.”

Shaking, Craig nodded, and Clyde gently brought him back down on the bed. He leaned over and kissed Craig deeply on the mouth before pulling away. “Good-night, Craig,” he whispered, “I love you.”

Craig didn’t reply, but lightly gripped the sleeve of Clyde’s shirt for comfort. He gently pressed his forehead against his friend’s shoulder and closed his eyes, falling into a troubled, but dreamless sleep.

…

When Craig woke the next morning, he saw that Clyde was still lying beside him, his arms tightly wrapped around him. Clyde had his face pressed to his neck and was gently stroking Craig’s arm comfortingly. Craig let out a hefty sigh. He still felt tired, and his strange nightmare from last night came back to him. He shuddered slightly. Clyde had said it was only a dream, but Craig felt like it was so much more. But what could it possibly mean?

Clyde stirred beside him, moaning a little, and stretching out his arms and legs. Then he relaxed again and noticed that Craig was awake. “Morning,” he greeted, “Sleep anymore last night?”

“Not really,” Craig muttered, “I didn’t really get any restful sleep, at least.”

“I’m sorry,” Clyde replied. He leaned over and lightly kissed Craig’s neck. “Is it all right if I use your shower?” he wondered.

“Be my guest,” Craig answered, shrugging, “I’m going to use these few minutes to try to get a little more sleep.” He felt Clyde nod and kiss him again before he got out of bed. As Craig rolled over to go back to sleep, he heard Clyde go over to his dresser. Craig knew his friend had left some clothes over here from their many sleep overs, so it didn’t surprise Craig that Clyde was going through his dresser.

Craig fell back asleep before he even heard the shower turn on. When he woke up again, Clyde was back on the bed beside him, gently rubbing his arm. His hair was still a bit damp, but he was fully dressed. Craig blinked at him.

“How long was I out?” he wondered. Clyde shrugged.

“About half an hour, at least,” he replied.

Groaning, Craig rolled back over, turning away from Clyde. He wasn’t very surprised when he felt Clyde lean over and start kissing his neck. He still wasn’t used to feeling his friend’s lips on him, though. He was a little surprised when Clyde suddenly took his shoulders and gently turned him so he could kiss his lips. Craig closed his eyes and let Clyde kiss him. He tried to stop himself from drifting back to sleep, but it was rather hard since he was still tired.

His eyes snapped open when Clyde forced his tongue into his mouth, the tiredness gone. Clyde tilted his head to kiss him deeper and wrapped his arms around Craig’s back and waist to pull him closer. Craig felt his breath hitch by how deeply Clyde was kissing him. When Clyde pulled back slightly to catch his breath, Craig turned away so he could speak.

“Are you just planning on kissing me all day?” he asked.

Clyde grinned at him. “That was the plan,” he replied in a mischievous voice. He leaned down and started kissing Craig’s neck again. Craig sighed.

“I really wanted to get some work done today, Clyde,” he told him, “Stan, Kyle, and I were on to something, and I think we might start actually getting somewhere.”

Clyde stopped kissing him to look at him. “What did you find?” he wondered.

“We realized that the first three kids who were taken all had blond hair,” Craig explained, “We think the kidnapper might be the same person who was kidnapping teens in North Park ten years ago. We realized that he took three kids of each hair color, and we think he might start taking kids with black hair next.”

He felt Clyde stiffen on top of him. “You have black hair,” he pointed out quietly.

Craig sighed slightly. “I know,” he said, “Don’t worry about me, though. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” There was a spark of worry in Clyde’s eyes.

“I can’t help but worry about you when you say that!” he said, “I don’t want you to get kidnapped as well! I would be devastated!”

“Then why don’t you go with me to meet Stan and Kyle?” Craig suggested, “We were going to go to Kenny’s house and look around there for anything the police might have missed. That way, I won’t be walking alone.”

Clyde allowed a smile to creep onto his face and leaned down to give him a gentle kiss. “Of course I’ll go with you,” he replied, “I want to help you. When are you meeting Stan and Kyle?”

Craig glanced over at the digital clock on his nightstand. It read 10:30. “We were going to meet at one,” he answered, “So Stan has plenty of time to unwind a little after church, and apparently the service at the synagogue goes until 12:30.” Clyde grinned.

“So, you don’t have anything to do until then?” he asked. Craig sighed a little.

“I guess not,” he replied.

Clyde’s grin widened. “I know something we can do until then,” he said playfully. Not surprisingly, he leaned down and started kissing Craig deeply.


	8. Stan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan and the others investigate, then Stan spends some time with Wendy.

Stan waited outside Kyle’s house with his friend as they waited for Craig. He was feeling anxious. He hadn’t gone anywhere near Kenny’s house since he disappeared, and he hadn’t seen any of his family either. He had no idea what, if anything, they would find there.

“Maybe we should go over to Craig’s house,” Kyle suggested, breaking the silence, “It’s not really safe to be out alone.”

“No need. Here he comes now,” Stan pointed out, gesturing down the street, “Oh, and he has Clyde with him. Smart.” He felt Kyle cringe beside him.

“Are you sure?” he asked, “Clyde’s not exactly the brightest bulb, you know.”

“No, but we can always use an extra set of eyes,” Stan argued. He looked at Kyle and knew he wanted to argue more, but Craig and Clyde had arrived, so he shut up.

“Hey,” Craig greeted them, “Sorry I’m a little late. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

“You’re still having nightmares?” Stan wondered, though he wasn’t surprised.

Craig sighed. “Pretty much every night this week,” he replied, “I hope you guys don’t mind, but I brought Clyde. He was at my house, and I can’t leave him alone or he’ll just sit by the door and stare at it sadly until I get back.”

While Clyde frowned at being likened to a dog, Stan couldn’t help but laugh. At least someone was trying to lighten the mood.

The four of them started heading towards Kenny’s house. Stan felt a wave of sadness just crossing the train tracks to Kenny’s part of town. He could remember when just last week he had gone over to Kenny’s house so they could all hang out together. Sometimes it was more fun to get into trouble in the run-down part of town than a nicer neighborhood. Would they never be able to return to those care-free times?

The first thing Stan noticed when they got to Kenny’s house was Stuart McCormick on the front porch with a hunting rifle sitting in a wooden rocking chair. His eyes darted around, no doubt ready to shoot anyone who came too close. The four of them hesitated, worried that Stuart might shoot them. Stan flinched when Stuart looked at them.

“Hey, you!” he growled, “You’d better watch yourselves around here! I’m not losing another kid to you lousy kidnappers!”

“But sir, we’re not the kidnappers,” Stan explained calmly, “We’re Kenny’s friends! You remember me and Kyle, right?”

Stuart scoffed. “Yeah right,” he sneered, “That’s what they all say! Git off my property before I run ya off!”

“We’re not on your property,” Craig pointed out.

Scowling, Stuart aimed his gun at them, and that was all the warning they needed before they took off running.

…

Stan huffed to himself as he flopped down onto his bed. The other three had gone home, leaving Stan alone in his house. Why did Stuart chase them off like that? They only wanted to help! He wondered if they should try going back later after dark, but then he questioned how sensible that would be. Maybe he could talk to Karen and get her to convince her dad that they weren’t a threat. Stan knew how close Karen and Kenny were. Kenny would do anything for her, and vice versa. Ok, he would be sure to talk to Karen tomorrow.

Right now, though, he felt a little drained. He felt like he needed something positive in his life right now to take his mind off of things. Whelp, that was one of the joys of having a girlfriend. Stan pulled out his phone and texted Wendy.

Stan: Hey, you want to come over for a while? I could use some company.

He was glad he didn’t have to wait long for her response.

Wendy: Sure! I’ll be right over. I’ll have my parents drive me.

Stan sighed with relief. Sure, Wendy’s house wasn’t that far away, as nothing ever was that far away in South Park, but if her parents drove her, that meant there would be no chance of her being kidnapped on the way over. And since driving meant it took even less time to get here, she was at his house in less than two minutes.

“Hey Wendy,” Stan greeted her when he opened the door to let her in.

Wendy smiled and gave him a hug as she stepped through the door. “Hey Stan,” she greeted back, “How are you doing?”

“All right, I guess,” Stan replied with a sigh, “It’s kind of lonely in our group without Kenny and Butters. I just can’t stop worrying about them.”

“I can’t even imagine what you must be going through,” Wendy sympathized, “I would hate to lose one of my close friends to a kidnapper.” She took Stan’s hands in her own. “But I’m sure it’ll be ok. Everything always works out for you in the end, doesn’t it?  
”  
While Stan appreciated her words, he still couldn’t help but worry. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and he was terrified for his friends.

“I guess so,” he muttered, “But I don’t really want to think about that right now.”

“I understand,” Wendy said, “What do you want to do instead?”

Stan sighed a little. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “I guess I didn’t really think it through.”

Wendy smiled at him and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. “Well, I know one thing we could do,” she said in a flirtatious voice. Stan’s heart did cartwheels as Wendy leaned in and kissed him. He was so glad he gotten over his nauseous stage when kissing her. It had really helped their relationship now that he was no longer nervous around her, and they hadn’t broken up since they were ten.

Eagerly, Stan returned the kiss, putting his arms on her waist. They leaned into it, sharing a tender moment.

Which was promptly ruined by Shelly opening the door into them. She rudely pushed past them without even acknowledging Stan or Wendy were there in her eagerness to get to her room. Stan rolled his eyes and looked back at Wendy.

“How about we go up to my room?” Stan suggested, “We’ll have more privacy there.”

“I like the sound of that,” Wendy cooed.

Since they were only fourteen, Stan and Wendy hadn’t done anything real sexual yet beyond some topless make out sessions. Stan was perfectly ok with this, as Wendy was growing into a beautiful young woman.

And because Stan was in a low mood, Wendy decided that some topless making out might cheer him up. When they got to his room, Wendy pushed Stan onto his bed and climbed on top of him. Stan eagerly pulled off his shirt while Wendy did the same with her shirt and bra. Stan couldn’t help but stare up at her.

Wendy’s breasts were growing in nicely. They were cute and small, not too huge and round like some other girls, like Bebe. Stan never got what was supposed to be sexy about huge tits. They were just distracting and got in the way.

Stan leaned up to meet Wendy’s lips as she bent down to kiss him. He opened his mouth and let her tongue enter. They passionately kissed as Stan slowly ran his hands up her body and gently cupped her breasts. Wendy sighed into his mouth as he did. They started moving their hands around each other’s bodies, gently feeling every curve, every muscle. Wendy moved her mouth to start kissing Stan’s neck and the top of his chest. Stan let out a soft breath of content. Wendy always knew how to make him feel better. He arched his back a little as Wendy kissed him. He tangled his fingers in her hair and ran a hand down her back.

“God, Wendy,” Stan sighed, “Your lips are so soft, it’s driving me crazy.”

He felt her grin against his skin and she began kissing along his jawline. He felt her soft skin against his own and it was making his heart go wild. They kissed for quite a while before finally pulling apart, panting.

As Wendy lay on top of him, Stan could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was nice to not have to worry about anything for a while. There was a strong part of him that wished he could just stay in his bubble and ignore the problems of the world.

…

When Stan woke up the next morning, he nearly forgot that he had invited Wendy to spend the night with him. They were both still topless. Stan blushed fiercely as Wendy was still laying peacefully on top of him.

Just as he was trying to figure out how to get off his bed without waking her, Wendy started to stir. She stretched her arms, nearly whapping Stan in the face.

“Oh, good morning, Stan!” she greeted with a little giggle, “Sorry, I forgot I fell asleep on top of you last night.”

Stan felt his blush deepen. He tried not to stare too much as Wendy sat up and stretched. Even though she was his girlfriend, he didn’t like feeling like a pervert by staring at her breasts for too long.

Wendy finally climbed off of him allowing Stan to sit up as well. He went over to his dresser as Wendy put her bra and shirt back on.

“It’s a good thing I thought to bring my school stuff with me when you called,” Wendy remarked off-handily, “It totally makes up for the fact that the author forgot it was Sunday yesterday, making today a school day so it would be weird if my backpack just showed up out of nowhere. Though, she might be the only one who would notice.”

Stan stopped for a moment, then turned to Wendy. “What?” he asked, having no idea what she was talking about. Wendy looked at him.

“What?” she repeated, “I was just talking to myself.”

Stan blinked at her. “Oh, ok,” he muttered.

They got done getting dressed and had breakfast together before walking to the bus stop together. Cartman and Kyle were already there. When they looked up and spotted Stan and Wendy, Cartman grew a wide grin.

“Ooh! What’s she doing here?” he asked, his voice full of implications, “You two spend the night together?” He wiggled his eyebrows at them, and Stan rolled his eyes. “Do the naughties?”

It annoyed him that Cartman was always teasing him about his sexual experiences with Wendy, or lack thereof. They were only fourteen, for God’s sake! He was only like, halfway through puberty or something! Sure, a lot of other guys in their class had already lost their virginity, but those guys were disgusting.

Thankfully, he was saved from having to make himself look stupid when Wendy smiled sweetly at the larger boy.

“So, Cartman,” she said in a nice sounding voice, “How’s Heidi been doing? I hear she’s going out with David now.”

Cartman cast the deepest glare at her. As soon as they had hit middle school, Heidi finally woke up and realized how horrible Cartman was, and that he was never going to change, and broke up with him. Cartman tried to act like it didn’t bother him, but his friends knew he was still really mad about it. Kyle, especially, was smug. It still hurt Eric when someone brought up how much better Heidi was doing without him.

Instead of answering, Cartman grumbled to himself, and Stan grinned at Wendy.

A few minutes later the bus came, and they all got on board. The bus ride to school was uneventful. During school, there were whispers going around, wondering if anyone had been kidnapped over the weekend. There were some who, upon hearing that no one had, automatically assumed that the kidnappings were over. But Stan knew better. If his guess was correct, and it was the same kidnapper from ten years ago, then the kidnappings were just beginning.

Stan tried hard not to let his thoughts get too distracted by his thoughts during the day, but he found it hard. Even during history class, which was probably his favorite class simply because of the teacher, Mr. Biggleston, he couldn’t concentrate. He was too occupied trying to come up with theories and suspects.

Mr. Biggleston was a rather large, plump man, with a pumpkin shaped face. He reminded Stan a little of Mr. Adler from the elementary school. Except Mr. Biggleston was even rounder and had more hair. Also, his hair was black. He was very jolly, and was very relaxed with his teaching. But he could be scary if you made him mad, which did not happen very often.

“All right students, settle down,” Mr. Biggleston urged when the bell rang. “Now, before we begin our lesson for the day, the school wanted all the teachers teach you students about safety, and what to do in certain emergencies. Considering the string of recent kidnappings, I think this advice will come in handy.”

He waddled over to his desk and took up a stack of papers. He started handing them out to the students, and as he did, he spoke. “This paper will give you tips and tricks to keep you safe,” he said, “Always walk home with someone else, or maybe get a ride with a friend. Never open the door to strangers. Stay to well-lit areas.”

As he talked on, Stan couldn’t help but let his mind wander. He wondered if some of these tips really would help. What if the kidnapper was someone they all knew? What if they didn’t have someone to walk home with or get a ride from? What they lived in a poor neighborhood that had no lights? He knew Kenny definitely fit the last one. Then one of his questions struck him.

What if the kidnapper was someone Kenny, Butters, and Tweek all knew? Butters had been in his house when he was kidnapped; surely he would only open the door for someone he knew? The thought made Stan’s heart start racing.

At lunch time, Stan pulled out a piece of paper and started writing on it. Kyle, with a tray of food, sat down next to him and looked over at him.

“Aren’t you going to get lunch?” he asked his friend. Stan shook his head.

“Nah,” he replied, “I had a thought during history, and I wanted to write it down before I forgot.”

Kyle gave him a confused look. “What kind of thought?” he wondered. By this time, Cartman, Craig, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token had joined them. Token and Clyde looked kind of pissed at each other, but Stan ignored that.

“I was thinking about the tips Mr. Biggleston gave us during class today,” he explained, “Like the ‘don’t open the door to strangers’ thing. Well, I’m pretty sure Butters knew that, and he was kidnapped in his home. What if the kidnapper is someone all three of them knew?”

“Well that really narrows it down,” Cartman muttered, “All the teachers from both the middle and elementary schools fit into there.”

Stan cast a glare at him. “At least I’m trying to do something,” he growled, “Besides, not all the teachers are in there. Tweek, Butters, and Kenny don’t all have the same classes and teachers. At least this way we can try to narrow it down.”

Cartman huffed, but said nothing.

At gym class, Mr. Pounsya had them doing something different than running laps for once. He decided to teach them all basic self-defense.  
Mr. Pounsya was quite a different man from Coach Rottenburg. Where Rottenburg was uptight and shouted a lot, Pounsya was very calm and spoke rather softly. He was a well-built man, and though he wasn’t as large as the coach, he had muscle.

“Now class, I think it would be good for all of you to learn some basic self-defense moves,” Mr. Pounsya explained, “That way, if you find yourself in a dangerous situation, you may be able to fight your way out long enough to get help.”

Stan wanted to play close attention to these moves. He didn’t want to miss anything. If the kidnapper indeed went after black haired kids next, he didn’t want to go down easy. Mr. Pounsya demonstrated the moves, then had them all practice on each other. Stan was paired with Kyle, which was good because they knew how to take it easy on each other.

After a while, Mr. Pounsya, dressed in full protective gear, pretended to be a mugger, and challenged each of the kids to try to get away from him using all their moves and strength. He didn’t go easy on them either, and when Stan finally managed to fight him off, he was panting and tired. Be he also appreciated that he didn’t go easy on them.

When the entire class had taken a turn, they hit the shower.

“I hope Mr. Pounsya keeps showing us more self-defense moves,” Kyle said as they all showered, “I think it might help, especially in this town.”

“Yeah,” Stan agreed, “I think I heard him talking to Token, saying tomorrow we’re going to learn some moves to disarm someone if they have a weapon.”

“Good,” Kyle nodded, “Maybe this’ll help stop the string of kidnappings.”

Stan sighed heavily. “I sure hope so,” he muttered, “I really miss those three.”

After school, Stan asked Wendy if she wanted to hang out more, but unfortunately, she had to stay after school and get some help from Mr. Biggleston. So, instead, Stan went home with Kyle, not that either were complaining.

“Did you notice something?” Kyle asked when they got back to his house, “Jackson wasn’t as much of an ass today. He didn’t cause any trouble during lunch or gym.”

“Huh. He must’ve been in a good mood today,” Stan contemplated. Kyle let out a hearty chuckle.

“I didn’t think Jackson had good moods,” he laughed.

The two stayed up until nearly midnight talking about this or that, and trying to think of ways to narrow down the suspect list. But until they could find more evidence, they had no way to be certain of anything.

Stan had a nightmare that night. Darkness was closing in around him, crushing and smothering him A hissing, taunting voice was laughing at him. “You’ll never save them!” it cackled, “They’re doomed! And you’re next!”

Waking with a start, Stan sat up, his brow dripping with sweat. Kyle was still asleep next to him, and he seemed untroubled. Watching his friend sleep so peacefully somehow calmed Stan down, and he managed to lay back down and fall asleep.

The next morning found Stan, Kyle, and Cartman waiting at the bus stop as usual.

“I wonder if anyone was kidnapped yesterday,” Cartman wondered out loud, “I didn’t watch the news this morning, so I don’t know.”

“I hope not,” Kyle sighed, “I really hope the police start getting some leads soon. I just want this whole thing to be done with.”

Stan couldn’t agree more. He really missed Kenny, and his perverted sense of humor. He missed Butters, and how happy and optimistic he was all the time. He even missed Tweek, even though they didn’t hang out that often.

They got on the bus, and not much happened until they arrived at the next stop. Craig, Clyde, Jimmy, and Token all climbed on. As they passed, Token stopped and put a hand on Stan’s shoulder.

“I heard about what happened,” he said, solemnly, “I’m really sorry.”

Stan gave him a confused look. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

Token looked a little taken aback. “Didn’t you hear?” he asked, “Wendy was abducted after school yesterday!”


	9. Tweek/Token

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Police have been stationed in the school due to Wendy's recent kidnapping, but will it really help anything? Token doesn't think so.

Tweek’s sight was starting to come back, at least a little. He could see the little amount of light the single lightbulb brought to the basement, and he could make out extremely blurry shapes. He knew someone new had been brought to the basement, but he couldn’t tell who it was until she spoke.

“Kenny!” Wendy whispered when the man had left, “Butters! Tweek! You’re all here! You’re all still alive!” Tweek could hear the sad relief in her voice; sounding overjoyed but defeated at the same time.

“Wendy?” Kenny hissed, “Damn it, he got you too? He just won’t stop at anything, will he?” Tweek heard him hit something, probably the floor, and curse.

“Gee, I never expected him to start t-takin’ girls,” Butters murmured, “I thought he was just going to stick to kidnappin’ boys!”

“Are you okay, Wendy?” Tweek asked, looking in what he hoped was her direction, “H-He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No,” Wendy sighed, “He ambushed me after school and chloroformed me. I feel a little weird, like groggy, but I don’t think he hurt me.”

“That’s good,” Kenny replied with a sigh of relief, “Um, how are Stan, Kyle, and Cartman? Are they all right?”

“They’re really upset without you and Butters,” Wendy told him, “It just hasn’t been the same without you guys.”

As Wendy talked, Tweek felt a need to block her out. He didn’t want to hear about how miserable everyone was. But especially hoped that she wouldn’t bring up Craig. While he how would love to know how he was doing, he didn’t want to hear about how broken up he was. Or even worse, if he wasn’t distressed at all. Tweek suddenly felt his stomach tighten.

Oh God, what if Craig didn’t miss him at all? What if he had already moved on? He never told Tweek he loved him, after all! Maybe he got with some busty woman and had forgotten all about him?

Wendy must’ve seen the worried look on Tweek’s face, because she suddenly addressed him. “Craig’s been so worried about you, Tweek,” she said, “He can’t stop talking about how much he misses you.”

Tweek felt tears coming to his eyes. He hated hurting Craig like this. He didn’t want Craig to have moved on from him, but he also didn’t want Craig to miss him so much that he couldn’t function. He shivered. He just wanted to be by Craig’s side again. To feel his arms around him and feel his gentle kisses on his lips.

He startled badly when he suddenly felt someone press against him. Tweek let out a scream of fear.

“What is it?” Kenny exclaimed, looking wildly around. He couldn’t see well, as the serum had caused black splotches to form all over his eyes and vision.

Tweek couldn’t reply as whoever was next to him wrapped their arms around him. “Don’t worry, Tweek, it’s just me.” Tweek froze up. It was Jackson. Immediately, Tweek started to struggle, trying to get away from him, but forgetting that he was chained to the wall.

Jackson chuckled softly. “It’s all right, love,” he cooed, “I’m not going to hurt you. I just figured you were cold down here, so I brought you a blanket to keep you warm.” Tweek flinched slightly when he felt something soft and warm being wrapped around him.

Instantly, Tweek felt warmth flow through him. The blanket did manage to keep out the damp cold, and even blocked the draft of cold air that gently blew on him. But he still shivered, but not from the cold.

“Why are you doing this?” Tweek wondered, his voice coming out in a whisper. He could’ve sworn Jackson was going to just use him for sex and nothing else.

He trembled when he felt Jackson press his face into Tweek’s neck. He wished the others weren’t shackled so far away from him.

“I’m taking care of you,” Jackson murmured, “I don’t want you to suffer. My dad may not care about you, but I do.” He leaned up and kissed Tweek’s neck, causing him to shudder.

“Please,” Tweek whispered, “Just leave me alone.”

Jackson chuckled. “Don’t be silly,” he laughed, “I love you. I just want you to be happy.”

Again, Tweek shuddered and he felt tears coming to his eyes. He didn’t want Jackson’s love. He felt like he was a pampered sex slave or something. He didn’t want that. He wanted real love. Love where two people actually cared about each other, and respected each other. The kind of respectful love where if one person was uncomfortable with doing something, they didn’t have to do it.

He wanted Craig.

Tweek felt the tears start to fall as he thought about Craig. He missed him so badly. He felt Jackson’s embrace tighten around him, which just made him long for Craig’s touch. Jackson started kissing all around his neck.

“Don’t cry, love,” Jackson murmured against his skin, “I’ll take care of you. I’ll make you feel good. Just let me love you.”

“If you really loved me, you would let me go,” Tweek muttered. Jackson shook his head.

“I can’t do that,” he whispered, “I love you too much. I want you to always be with me. For you to be by my side, no matter where we go.”

Tweek felt himself start to shake. Then he felt Jackson touch his face and made him turn to him. Jackson then began kissing his mouth. Tweek closed his eyes, trying to block out the feeling of Jackson’s lips pressed against his own. He shuddered when Jackson forced his tongue into his mouth and moan.

“When dad decides to pack up and move on from this place, I’m taking you with me,” Jackson whispered in Tweek’s ear after he was done assaulting his mouth, “You’re never leaving my side. We’ll be together forever.”

…

Stan stared up at Token in absolute shock. Token knew a thousand thoughts must have been running through his head at the moment. It took a minute for Stan to finally speak.

“W-Wendy can’t be gone,” he muttered, “She c-can’t have been abducted! Someone would have seen it! Right?”

Kyle put a comforting arm around him as Stan slouched his shoulders. Token stared down at them, feeling sorry for him.

“Apparently no one saw her get abducted,” Token explained, “There was no one around to see or hear anything. They just found her smashed cell phone on the floor of a hallway.”

Stan didn’t say anything, but stared at the floor in shock. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. Token felt his chest tighten in sympathy.

“I’m really sorry,” he murmured. Then he went to the back of the bus with the rest of his friends. He was annoyed to see Clyde sitting next to Craig with an arm wrapped tightly around him. Token was careful not to let either of them see his scowl as he sat down next to Jimmy.

“Jeez, p-p-poor Stan,” Jimmy sighed, “He and W-Wendy finally got over their i-issues, only for her t-to g-go missing.”

“Yeah,” Token agreed, “I would be devastated if something happened to Nichole. I think it would be totally understandable if Stan wanted to ditch today.”

When they got to school, Token got off the bus and noticed Nichole waving at him. Telling Jimmy he would see him later, he went over to her. He gave her a quick kiss in greeting.

“Hey, babe, what’s up?” he asked.

“Not much,” Nichole replied, “Oh, except for the fact that they put security guards at entrance to school.” Token stared at her in surprise.

“Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah, since Wendy was abducted at school yesterday they really wanted to beef up security,” she explained.

Token sighed. “It probably won’t help,” he guessed, “I mean, why would the kidnapper abduct another kid from school?”

Nichole merely shrugged in reply. “I’m more concerned with where they’re getting the funding for this,” she said, “They installed metal detectors too. And x-ray scanners.”

“Geez, this is the TSA all over again,” Token groaned.

“Tell me about it,” Nichole laughed. They both laughed for a moment. “No, seriously, tell me about it. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

It took a while for Token and his friends to get through security. Especially poor Jimmy, who had to uncomfortably drag himself through the metal detector since he wasn’t allowed to use his crutches. Token glared at the guards the whole time. Did they really think Jimmy would be a threat?

“Can you believe those guys?” Token muttered to his friends, “Just sitting and watching Jimmy without even helping him?”

“Are you all right, Jimmy?” Craig asked him, “You’re not too tired?”

“I’m f-fine, thanks C-Craig,” Jimmy replied as he walked alongside them, “Though, it w-would have been n-nice if I had b-been allowed to use my crutches.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Clyde agreed with a sigh, “Imagine how it must’ve been for Timmy!”

For the rest of the day officers patrolled the hallways as if they really thought they were going to catch the kidnapper that way. Token figured it would be pretty hard to catch the kidnapper, considering they had absolutely no leads, no clues, and no ideas. All this did was upset everyone.

It was particularly unnerving to have a guard breathing down their necks while trying to solve long and complicated math equations. Especially since the math teacher Mr. Adder, was somewhat insane. A genius, sure, but also insane. He tended to ramble to himself as he wandered around the room keeping an eye on all the students. The officer in the room didn’t seem to bother him at all.

“The students are now answering the questions on the board as per instructions,” Mr. Adder muttered to his pen, as if it were some sort of recording device, “Soon I will be quizzing them to see if any of them actually got them right.”

Token tried to ignore Mr. Adder and focus on his work, but the teacher was now standing over him, watching him with a critical eye, waiting for him to mess up. Trying his best not to shudder, Token looked down at his notebook, where he had written the equation.

Please go away, Token thought to himself, You’re making me so nervous!

“I appear to have unnerved one of my students while observing him,” Mr. Adder said to his pen, “I will have to do further testing to see how the student fairs under pressure.”  
Hearing a silent snicker somewhere next to him, Token casted an angry glare at Clyde, who sneered at him. As soon as Mr. Adder moved away, Token flipped Clyde off. Clyde rolled his eyes and went back to his work.

When the bell finally rang, Token was more than a little relieved. He didn’t know how much more he could take of Mr. Adder scrutinizing everything he did. As he stepped out of the math room, he spotted Nichole and walked over to her.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted, “Shall I walk you to your next class?”

“Oh Token,” Nichole giggled, “You’re such a gentleman!” She offered her hand, and Token grinned before taking it. Their next class was right next to each other, so it wasn’t like he was going far out of his way to walk her.

As they walked through the halls, security guards just standing around staring at them, Token felt guilty when he saw Stan and Kyle by the lockers, with Stan holding Kyle in a tight hug as Kyle murmured comforting words to him. He couldn’t possibly imagine the pain Stan must’ve been going through.

“I hope Wendy is ok,” Nichole sighed, “She was like, my best friend. I can’t believe she was just snatched from school like that.”

“Yeah,” Token muttered, “What kind of sicko kidnaps someone from school? There could’ve been someone around who saw!”

“But there wasn’t,” Nichole pointed out, “It’s like whoever did just knew there was going to be no one around.”

Token looked at her. How did the kidnapper know that there was going to be no body around? Could it be that-? No, that was impossible. He was going to say something to Nichole, but at that moment they arrived at their next class. So instead, he gave her a quick kiss and entered the classroom.

Mr. Biggleston was at his desk, shuffling papers as the students filed in. Token took a seat next to Craig, who was sitting at the end of a row, much to the annoyance and anger of Clyde. He glared at Token and took a seat behind Craig instead.

“Are you doing ok?” Token asked, leaning over to Craig.

“Maybe a little,” Craig sighed, “I’ve started working with Stan and Kyle to try to find more clues on who the kidnapper might be. I guess actually doing something about this instead of just moping around has helped me feel a little better.”

Token couldn’t help but smile a little. “That’s good,” he said, “It’s not healthy to just sit around doing nothing all day.”

Craig nodded, but didn’t get to say anything as Mr. Biggleston started class. “Okay, class, let’s get started! Today we’re going to discuss the French Revo-“

“Mr. Biggleston,” Stan interrupted, raising his hand. Mr. Biggleston looked rather surprised that someone had a question before he had even started.

“Um, yes, Stanley?” he asked.

“Do you know anything about the kidnapping incident in North Park from ten years ago?” Stan wondered.

As the rest of the class started voicing their agreements, Mr. Biggleston started to look worried and nervous. He cleared his throat and tugged at his collar.

“Um, w-where did you hear about that?” he questioned Stan.

“Well, what’s going on now is very similar to what happened in North Park,” Stan explained, “I just wanted to know if you had any information on it.”

Mr. Biggleston was silent for a moment as sweat ran down his forehead. The class all stared at him. He let out an awkward cough.

“Er, n-no,” he stuttered, “Why would I? I’m just a simple history teacher. I don’t know anything! Now drop it!”

The class fell silent again at Mr. Biggleston’s outburst. No one said anything as he started talking about the French Revolution.

“I wonder why Mr. Biggleston got so upset when asked about the North Park incident,” Token said to Jimmy after class.

“M-M-Me too,” Jimmy agreed, “He s-seemed really n-nervous.”

“Yeah,” Token muttered. He suddenly realized that Craig and Clyde weren’t following them, and something told him to find out why. “I’ll catch up with you, Jimmy, I just need to get something I left in class.”

He went back to the history class, painfully aware of the security guards staring at him. When he got back to the classroom, it was dark, but he could hear voices inside. Token stopped to listen, pressing against the wall next to the door.

“Clyde, we need to get to lunch,” Craig was saying, “Everyone’s already there by now. I bet Token and Jimmy are wondering where we are.”

“Relax, Craig, we’ll get there soon enough,” Clyde replied.

Curiosity got the better of Token and he carefully peeked into the room. Craig was watching Clyde put things into his backpack, as Clyde took his time. Then he straightened and turned to Craig.

“I wanted to sit next to you during class today,” he confessed.

“I’m sorry,” Craig said in soft voice. Clyde stepped forward and draped his arms around his friend’s neck. A boiling anger started to rise in Token.

“Don’t apologize,” Clyde murmured to him, “At least we have time to ourselves now.”

Token had to stop himself from bursting into the room and punching Clyde’s lights out as Clyde leaned in and kissed Craig deeply. He was equally annoyed that Craig simply closed his eyes and allowed Clyde to kiss him. He didn’t seem to be kissing Clyde back, but Token was mad that Clyde thought it was okay to make out with him even though he was still technically with Tweek.

Unable to watch any longer, Token snatched up his bag and stormed off.

…

When he got home from school that day, Token immediately went to his room and flopped down on his bed. What an exhausting and annoying day that was! He wanted to call out Clyde for kissing Craig and basically proving him right, but he didn’t know how. He wanted to be able to tell Clyde that what he was doing wasn’t right. But he knew Clyde would just get angry again.

Sighing, Token pulled out his phone and started going through Facebook, Twitter, and many news sites, seeing if there was any new information on the kidnappings. Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t. It was South Park, after all, known for having one of the worst police departments in the country.

After an hour or so browsing his phone, Token decided to give Nichole a call. Maybe she could help cheer him up. He dialed her number, but it immediately went to a voice telling him that the number was no longer in service.

“That’s odd,” Token muttered to himself, “Did she change her number and forget to tell me? I could’ve sworn I called her on this number yesterday.”

Deciding to think nothing of it for now, he called Jimmy instead and chatted with him for a while. They talked about how they were pretty sure having the police in their school wasn’t going to help anything. Then Jimmy tried distracting Token with a new comedy routine that actually managed to get a laugh out of Token.

When they finally hung up, Token was feeling a lot better. He had dinner with his parents, took a shower, and went back to his room. He flopped down on his bed again while drying his hair and turned on the news. Right now, it was talking about the weather, so he didn’t really pay attention. He stopped, however, when the broadcast came on, and a reporter was standing outside a familiar house.

“I am now outside the house of a one Nichole Daniels, who just hours ago was abducted from her house,” the reporter announced.

Token’s eyes widened and the remote fell from his hand. He couldn’t even hear the TV anymore as the reporter said that the police currently had no leads and the only thing found was Nichole’s smashed cellphone.

“No…” Token whispered, “No! Not her! Anyone but her!”


	10. Clyde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clyde thinks about where to go from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out! I was stuck on where to go, and I had trouble stretching it to three thousand words, which is my goal for every chapter. Hope it doesn't show!

Clyde gently leaned against Craig as they sat on Craig’s bed, watching the TV. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Nichole had been kidnapped from her house. Much like Butters. An anxious worry came over him and he wondered if Token was watching right now. He promised himself he would try to be nicer to him tomorrow in school.

“Poor Token,” Craig muttered, “He must be devastated. We’re going to have to start working harder to find this guy.”

“Yeah,” Clyde agreed, “Has Stan or Kyle found out anything else?”

“Not yet,” Craig replied, “Stan’s been too upset about Wendy getting kidnapped to do anything. Kyle and I are going to talk to him tomorrow. Since Wendy was abducted after school, we plan to try and figure out what she was doing, and maybe that will give us a clue.”

Clyde nodded in understanding. “That’s a good idea. Mind if I tag a long when you investigate?” he wondered.

“Sure. Maybe with more people we’ll find something we wouldn’t have otherwise,” Craig reasoned.

That wasn’t really the reason Clyde wanted to come with, but he wasn’t going to say so. He was torn on whether or not he wanted to genuinely help them, or try to sabotage them. On one hand, if he managed to hide the truth, then they would never find Tweek, and Craig would be with him forever. But, on the other hand, if he was the one finding all the vital clues, as he already knew who did it, maybe Craig would fall in love with him, and if they found Tweek, he would love Clyde more than Tweek.

Clyde was so lost in thought, he didn’t even realize that Craig had asked him a question and was waiting for him to reply. Clyde blinked and looked at him, a blush of embarrassment creeping onto his face.

“Sorry, dude, I wasn’t really paying attention,” he apologized, “What did you say?”

Letting out a huff of annoyance, and rolling his eyes, Craig repeated: “Are you staying for dinner?”

“Oh. Yeah, I would like to,” Clyde replied, “And is it all right if I stay the night? My dad has been rather testy lately.”

“I guess so,” Craig said.

Clyde noticed that Craig seemed to be rather emotionless these days. It was better than when he was depressed, but now his voice seemed to carry no emotion. Clyde couldn’t tell if he was starting to do better or worse.

Trying to put him in a better mood, Clyde snuggled up to him, curling up against his side, and resting his head on his shoulder. Craig let out a gentle sigh and leaned slightly into him. Smiling to himself, Clyde put an arm around him.

“So, it seems like you guys were right about the hair color thing so far,” Clyde pointed out after a minute of silence, “Both Wendy and Nichole have black hair. It makes me feel a little bit better thinking that maybe you won’t be kidnapped.”

Craig let out a small huff of laughter. “Thanks,” he said, “But there’s a small part of me that actually kind of wants to get kidnapped. If only just so I could know where Tweek is and how he’s doing. Maybe I would be able to comfort him.”

Clyde’s body stiffened slightly and he sat up, looking at Craig. The other looked at him and gave him a confused look.

“What’s wrong?” he wondered.

“Nothing,” Clyde lied, “I was just thinking that I’d really like to kiss you right now.” Craig let out a quiet sigh.

“All right,” he whispered.

Grinning, Clyde leaned in, capturing Craig’s lips with his own. Craig didn’t kiss him back, but at the moment, Clyde didn’t care. Right now he was too focused on how amazing Craig’s lips felt and how soft they were. He kissed him deeply, and gently pushed Craig onto his back. Then he moved onto kissing Craig’s neck, who shivered at his touch. Clyde carefully moved to lay on top of Craig, lowering his body onto him without removing his lips from his neck. He could feel Craig’s heart beating in his chest, and it seemed to encourage Clyde to kiss Craig even deeper. He kissed along his neck, to his jawline, before kissing Craig’s mouth again.

Breaking away, Clyde touched his forehead to Craig’s and stared into his friend’s eyes. He was breathing a bit heavily. “I love you, Craig,” he breathed. He leaned down and kissed him again, lightly brushing his lips against Craig’s.

After a while, Clyde pulled away and looked down at Craig. He looked somewhat distant, as if his mind were somewhere else. Clyde frowned slightly.

“Are you all right?” he wondered. Craig let out a deep sigh.

“Not really,” he confessed, “I haven’t really felt anything since Tweek disappeared. All I feel is an emptiness. I want to try to stay strong and hopeful for him, but I just can’t feel anything.”

With another sigh, Craig rolled over onto his side as Clyde stared sadly down at him. There had to be someway he could cheer him up. Seeing his friend so depressed made up Clyde’s mind. He was going to do everything in his power to find the right clues to point them in the direction of the kidnapper. Then, hopefully that would cheer up Craig and make him fall in love with Clyde.

But at the moment, he wanted his friend to feel better now. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked. Craig shook his head.

“It’s fine,” he murmured, “I’m just tired right now. It’s getting late.”

“Yeah,” Clyde agreed, “Would you like me to bring your dinner up for you?”

Craig looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Would you, please?” he said in a soft voice, “I feel too tired to move.”

Smiling slightly, Clyde leaned down and lightly kissed his cheek. “Of course, I will,” he replied. He got up from the bed and made his way downstairs.

…

Clyde woke to the sound of Craig’s screaming. Clyde shot up and looked over at Craig who was crying out and clutching his head. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was curled up, as if to keep some unknown threat away. He was also shaking uncontrollably. Clyde couldn’t tell if his friend was still asleep or not.

Leaning over, Clyde desperately tried to shake Craig awake. “Wake up!” he hissed, “Please, Craig! Wake up!”

Craig was no longer shouting, but whimpering quietly. Tears were starting to form at the corners of his eyes, and in that moment, Clyde felt absolutely powerless. Craig started panting hard, and wrapped his arms around himself.

“No…” came his tiny voice, “Please don’t do this…”

Tears were starting to come to Clyde’s eyes. “Craig,” he whispered, shaking him again, “Please wake up! You’re scaring me, and I don’t know what to do!”

“I don’t want this…” Craig continued, his voice barely above a whisper, “Please let me go…” His voice suddenly rose into a strangled cry, and he jolted awake, panting, and eyes wide. He looked around the room, as if he suddenly realized where he was.

“Craig,” Clyde said gently to him, “Are you ok?”

Shaking, Craig turned to Clyde, and his eyes widened. He suddenly leaned forward, pressing himself into Clyde, shivering. Clyde wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. He could hear Craig quietly crying.

“What happened?” Clyde asked, gently stroking Craig’s hair.

“I… I had another dream,” Craig whispered, “About Tweek. I felt like I was actually him, I don’t know. I-It was horrible. H-He was… a-and there w-was…”

“Shh…” Clyde softly hushed him, “It’s ok. You’re ok. I’m here for you, everything will be fine. I’m not going anywhere.”

Craig didn’t reply, but didn’t object to letting Clyde hold him. As Clyde gently held his friend, he gently rocked him back and forth, and he felt his heart breaking. Even when Tweek first disappeared, Clyde had never seen Craig so upset before. He leaned down and rested his cheek on top of Craig’s head.

“Are you feeling any better?” Clyde asked after a while.

It was a moment before Craig spoke. “I… I think so,” he replied in a quiet voice. He pulled away and wiped his eyes. “S-Sorry,” he muttered, “I’m not used to showing so much emotion like that.”

Clyde smiled sadly. “It’s ok,” he said, “I know. You know you don’t have to be embarrassed in front of me. I’ll love you no matter what.”

There was another moment of silence before Craig sighed quietly. “Thank you, Clyde,” he said, “For sticking with me through this and being so supportive of me. It must be a bit hard to be in love with me when I’m with Tweek.”

A sense of panic washed over Clyde, but it was gone in an instant. He didn’t want Craig to see how much that statement affected him. Instead, he smiled. “I don’t care if you’re dating Tweek,” he lied, “I only care that you’re happy. I’m going to try my hardest to help you find Tweek, all right?”

Craig looked at him and nodded. Clyde leaned forward and gently kissed him before pulling away. “I know it’s a little out of place to ask,” Clyde said, “But, would you like me to hold you until you fall asleep?”

“Yes, please,” Craig murmured.

Smiling softly, Clyde gently took Craig into his arms, and they both laid down together, falling asleep almost instantly.

…

It was a little weird for Clyde to wake up with Craig in his arms, but he could easily get used to this. For a moment, Craig almost looked peaceful. Clyde smiled to himself, but then the memories of last night flooded back to him, and he frowned. He still had no idea what that was about. Did Craig really see Tweek in his dreams? Surly it was just his worry for Tweek that was giving him those nightmares?

Before he could really worry about it, Clyde felt Craig stirring in his arms. He pulled away from him and watched as Craig slowly blinked awake.

“Hey,” Clyde greeted, “Sleep any better last night?”

“A little,” Craig mumbled, “I still feel tired though. I guess that’s not really surprising. I always feel tired these days.”

Craig hadn’t sat up at all. He just laid there, his eyes looking dull. Clyde reached out and gently started rubbing his arm. Craig let out a strange little sigh at his touch. Clyde leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Is it all right if I use your shower?” he asked.

“I don’t care,” Craig murmured. Clyde gave him another little kiss before sitting up.

He walked over to Craig’s dresser and pulled out some clothes he kept there before heading to the shower. He was glad that Laura and Tricia Tucker didn’t mind if Clyde used their shower. They didn’t mind if Tweek used it, and they didn’t mind if Clyde used it.

While he was in the shower, Clyde couldn’t help but think of how great shower sex with Craig would be. Before he could stop himself, he was shamelessly masturbating to the thought of fucking his friend. In his mind, Tweek was watching, dejected.

Finally finishing, Clyde dried himself off, and slipped into his clothes. When he went back into Craig’s room, he found his friend still laying in bed. Clyde sighed and went over to the bed and sat down. He decided not to disturb him and instead turned on the TV instead, making sure to turn the volume low.

It was still tuned to the news from last night, and right now there seemed to be a report about the school. Clyde’s face lit up as the newscaster announced that school for all South Park children would be canceled for the next few weeks until the police could properly investigate. Apparently, some of the teachers would still have their classes open in case students didn’t want to miss anything.

Grinning, Clyde slipped back into bed with Craig. No need to wake him up now, if they didn’t have to worry about school. He knew Craig wanted to go out later with Stan and Kyle, but that could come later. For now, he wrapped his arms around Craig and pulled him close.

As he started kissing along Craig’s neck, Clyde heard him take a sharp breath. “Clyde?” he whispered, “What’s going on? What time is it, and how long have I been out?”

“It’s almost the time school would start, but you don’t have to worry about that,” Clyde explained, “School’s been canceled for a while.”

“Oh,” Craig didn’t even ask why. He simply went silent again.

“Are you all right?” Clyde wondered, concerned.

“Not really,” Craig muttered, “Last night’s dream really rattled me. I feel so drained.”

“Do you want me to text Stan and Kyle and tell them you won’t be able to make it today?” Clyde asked.

“No, I need to do something, or I’ll just linger on it,” Craig rationalized, “I still feel tired, though.” Clyde gave him a soft smile.

“Then get some more rest, bud,” he urged, “I’ll wake you if Stan or Kyle call or text or anything.” Craig turned his eyes to him and gave him a weak smile.

“Thanks Clyde,” he murmured. He turned back around and closed his eyes again. It wasn’t long before Clyde heard his breathing soften in his sleep.

Clyde pressed closer to him and held him in his arms. He tried not to fall asleep; he didn’t want to miss it if Stan or Kyle tried to contact them. But having Craig in his arms was just so nice, and comforting. He fell asleep without even realizing it.

When he woke, it was to a loud annoying buzzing. Groaning, Clyde sat up and looked around before realizing it was Craig’s phone that was buzzing. Leaning over as carefully as he could so he wouldn’t wake Craig, Clyde took his phone off the nightstand and opened the message. It was from Stan.

Stan: Let’s meet up in front of the school in ten minutes. Is that all right with you guys?

Clyde quickly sent a message back for Craig before looking down at his sleeping friend. He seemed like he was finally getting some peaceful rest, and Clyde almost didn’t want to wake him. But he had promised Craig that he would.

“Wake up,” Clyde urged, gently shaking Craig, “Hey! Craig! Wake up!”

There was a small groan and Craig opened his eyes. “What?” he mumbled.

“Stan texted,” Clyde explained, “He wants us to meet in front of the school in ten minutes.” Craig groaned again.

“Tell him to fuck off,” he muttered, hiding his head under his blanket.

Clyde chuckled softly and pulled the blanket back. “Sorry, I already texted him back saying we’ll be there,” he told him, “Besides, you need to get up. You said yourself you need to do something.”

With a heavy sigh, Craig sat up, gently pushing Clyde away. “Get out of my room while I get dressed,” he ordered.

“Aw, I don’t get to see you naked?” Clyde laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Craig turned and glared at him.

“No,” he growled, “Out.”

Clyde chuckled but did as he was told. A few minutes later Craig walked out of his room fully dressed, with his hair brushed, and chullo on his head. He looked a lot better than when he woken up at least.

Looping his arm with his friend’s, Clyde led Craig down the stairs and out of the house. Craig was silent the entire time they walked, just staring quietly down at the sidewalk. Clyde couldn’t help but feel a bit worried about him.

He tried to think of something to say make Craig feel better, but before he could, he heard a loud, cruel chuckling and looked up. Scowling, he pulled Craig to a stop and glared at Jackson and his two goons.

“Well, well, look what we have here,” Jackson sneered, “A sad little boy so lost without his spaz he has to rely on his loser friend to even walk.”

Clyde glared at him, but Craig didn’t react at all. He merely glanced up at Jackson then back down at the pavement. So, Clyde would have to do the reacting for him.

“Why don’t you guys go crawl back under the shit hole you came from?” he growled.

Jackson laughed. “What’s the matter, Tucker?” he chuckled, “Too broken to fight your own battles? You have to get your new boyfriend to do it for you? Rather quick to pick up a new one, don’t you think?”

Those words seemed to resonate with Craig, and he suddenly sprang to life, tackling Jackson to the ground, and gripping the front of his shirt. He scowled down at the bully with pure anger and hatred as Jackson’s goons backed away.

“How dare you!” Craig hissed, “I would never replace Tweek! I love him more than anyone else in my life! And if you have any value for your life, you will not talk about him again! I wouldn’t even think about him again, if I were you!”

Jackson glared up at him, which rather surprised Clyde. Usually he backed down after one threat from Craig.

“Fuck you!” Jackson spat, “Don’t try to pull that bullshit with me! I’ve seen you two making out at school! I think it would be rather hard to think of the spaz while his tongue is down your throat!”

Hissing with anger, Craig grabbed a fistful of Jackson’s hair and slammed his head on the pavement. Clyde took a fearful step back, as did Jackson’s two goons. He could tell they wanted to intervene, but they were too scared. Craig was punching Jackson in the face while Jackson was clawing at him. Clyde couldn’t stand by anymore.

“Craig, you’re going to kill him!” he exclaimed as he rushed forward and grabbed Craig’s arm. Craig didn’t seem to notice at all.

“Good!” he sneered. He went to punch Jackson again, but Clyde managed to haul him to his feet and off the bully.

As soon as Craig was off of him, the two goons rushed forward and helped Jackson to his feet. His face was puffed up from the punches, and he still looked angry.

“Yeah, thanks for the help, you idiots!” he sneered at the two, “Let’s get out of here!” They roughly pushed past Craig and Clyde in their haste to escape. Craig glared after them.

“I don’t want to see your ugly face again!” he yelled, “You’ll stay away from me if you know what’s good for you!”

Clyde stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around him. “It’s ok, Craig,” he said softly, “They’re gone now. You can calm down.” He could feel Craig shaking with anger.

“I hate him so much,” he breathed, panting, “I don’t know why he feels the need to say things like that. He knows I can tear him apart.”

Clyde gently rested his head on Craig’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Craig,” he murmured, “I shouldn’t act like I with you something when I’m hanging out with you. Especially at school. I know you’re still dating Tweek, even if he’s not here.”

“It’s all right,” Craig muttered, “You’re my best friend. You’re allowed to tell me you love me. Jackson should just mind his own fucking business.” Clyde gently pressed against him.

“Come on,” he said, “Let’s get to the school before Stan and Kyle wonder what happened to us.”


	11. Kyle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group start making some headway in the case, then Stan, Kyle, and Cartman head to North Park.

“They’re late again,” Kyle muttered as he and Stan waited outside the school.

“Be patient, Kyle,” Stan told him calmly, “I’m sure they’re on their way. Or at least Craig is. He texted back saying he would be here.”

“Knowing him, he’ll probably bring Clyde,” Kyle said. It’s not that Kyle didn’t like Clyde, they got along fine. But Clyde had never been known to be all that bright. He just didn’t know how bringing Clyde along could possibly help.

He looked over at Stan, who was staring at the ground and dragging a foot through the dirt. Without saying a word, Kyle walked over and put an arm around him in comfort. He didn’t need to ask if Stan was ok. He knew he was still depressed about Wendy.

“Thanks, man,” Stan said quietly after a moment of silence. Kyle looked at him.

“What for?” he asked.

“Just… for being there for me,” Stan replied, “I know I’m not always the easiest to be around when I’m depressed.”

Kyle gave him a small smile. “Of course, dude,” he said, nudging him in the side, “I always be here for you. We’ll get Wendy back before you know it.”

Stan smiled back at him, and Kyle could tell he was genuinely touched by his words. It lifted Kyle’s heart a bit. Even though he knew getting Wendy back would mean he couldn’t have Stan to himself anymore, he knew it would be worth it for Stan to be happy again.

It wasn’t long after that when Craig and Clyde arrived, with Craig looking quite ruffled. Kyle stared at him in surprise.

“What happened to you?” he asked.

“We ran into Jackson on the way here,” Craig replied. He sounded like he was trying hard to keep his voice level. “I may have gotten into a fight with him. That’s why we’re late. Sorry.”

Stan held up a hand in dismissal. “It’s fine,” he told him, “Let’s just get in the school before someone catches us and accuses us of loitering.”

He led the way into the building, which had been left unlocked for any students that needed to get in for any reason. The hallway where Wendy was abducted had been roped off to keep students from walking on any potential evidence. Kyle had seen some of the janitors looking longingly down that hallway, yearning to clean it but being forbidden from doing so.

The police tape did a fine job keeping people away, maybe. Because it’s not like there were police men or guards stationed to make sure no one trespassed. That would be a smart thing to do, and the South Park police were anything but smart.

The four of them ignored the police tape and carefully climbed over it. Kyle could see bits and pieces of Wendy’s smashed phone. The police had taken the actual phone for evidence, but left a lot of debris behind. This particular hallway was the hallway where the four of them had a lot of their classes, so the teachers had to move to different rooms for now.

“Do you remember what Wendy was doing after school the day she got kidnapped?” Kyle asked Stan, feeling a little guilty about having to bring that up.

Stan cringed slightly before tipping his head in thought. “She was meeting a teacher after school for extra help,” he said after a moment of silence, “Which teacher was it though? Oh, hold on a sec.” He dug into his pocket and brought out his cell phone and scrolled through his messages. “Ok, she was meeting Mr. Biggleston.”

“That’s weird,” Clyde muttered, “Mr. Biggleston’s class isn’t down this hallway. What was Wendy doing down here?”

“Wait, whose class rooms are in this hall then?” Stan wondered.

Kyle quickly looked up and down the hallway. “Well, there’s Mr. Johnston and Mr. Adder. There’s also Miss Manlee, but I don’t think Wendy has her as a teacher. Oh, and Mr. Pounsya and Coach Rottenburg have their offices here.”

“Do you think one of the teachers lured her down here or something?” Stan theorized, “She would trust any of them.”

“Maybe,” Kyle replied, “It would probably be one of her own teachers, since she would trust them. They might have lured her in by saying they wanted to tell her something, since she is an exceptional student.”

“Ok, so that may be something,” Craig said, “I guess we have our top suspects.”

They searched around for a few more minutes, looking high and low for any more clues or sudden revelations. At one point Kyle thought he smelled something unusual, but the smell was so faint, he decided not to bother bringing it up. When nothing more could be found, they decided to head home.

Stan and Kyle walked home together, while Craig and Clyde decided to hang out somewhere else. Both of them were very quiet as they walked, neither of them really knowing what to say. Kyle had a million thoughts racing through his head.

How could anyone be so cruel to kidnap so many teens? What was their motivation? Whatever the answers were, Kyle could only hope that somehow they were all still alive. He didn’t know if Stan would be able to take it if Wendy was…

Kyle looked over at Stan, who was walking with his head down, staring at the sidewalk. He hoped he would be able to give his friend some good news soon to cheer him up. They just had to keep working hard and eventually they would find something.

Thinking back to the teachers, Kyle wondered if there was something there that they were missing. He wondered what the kidnapper was like ten years ago. Were they a teacher at the North Park school? That’s when Kyle stopped walking.

“Oh, I’m so stupid!” Kyle cursed out loud. Stan looked at him.

“Come on, Kyle, you’re not that stupid. You get pretty decent grades,” Stan told him.

“What? No, that’s not what I meant!” Kyle sighed, “I just thought of something! This kidnapper! If he is the same kidnapper from ten years ago, there must be a way to know, right? Like, what if he was a teacher at that school as well?”

“We could probably find out who was teaching there ten years ago,” Stan added, catching on, “We would just have to look for familiar names and faces!”

“Exactly!” Kyle exclaimed excitedly, “Come on! We’ve got research to do!”

They quickly ran to Stan’s house, and were immediately at his computer. They went to the page for North Park schools and started looking up the year books.

“Let’s see,” Stan mumbled as he scrolled through the pages, “It looks like they don’t have the old yearbooks online, but they do have a copy of every yearbook at the North Park library. We could reserve it and then go to North Park and get it.”

“But how are we supposed to do that?” Kyle wondered, “Neither of us can drive.”

“There are buses that will take us there,” Stan pointed out, “Come on, Kyle, this is our first strong lead. We have to take this.”

“You’re right,” Kyle admitted, “There’s a strong chance we could actually find out who it is. If we leave right now, I think we could probably get back before dark.”

The two quickly put their jackets back on and Stan grabbed some money for the bus. When they opened the front door, they were quite surprised to see Cartman standing there, fist raised, as if he was about to knock. All three stared in astonishment at each other.

“Where are you two going in such a hurry?” Cartman wondered after he got over his initial shock.

“We were going to catch a bus up to North Park and see if we can’t find a high school year book from ten years ago,” Stan explained, “We think maybe if it’s the same person who’s been kidnapping teens, maybe they were a teacher ten years ago as well.”

“Is it all right if I come along?” Cartman requested, “I wanted to hang out anyway. I hate to admit it, but I’m feeling rather lonely.”

Before any of this had started, Kyle would have immediately refused. But the rather sad and pathetic look on Eric’s face made him reconsider. They were friends. They looked out for each other in times of need and hurt.

“Of course, you can,” Kyle replied gently, “But we need to leave right now.”

Cartman nodded, and together the three of them headed towards the bus stop. They got the next bus to North Park and were on their way. The three of them were silent for most of the bus ride, and Kyle tried to ignore how close Cartman was sitting to him. He inched closer to Stan and felt Cartman move closer. Again, he tried not to focus on it.

When they got to North Park and got off the bus, Stan pulled out his phone and looked up the directions to the library. North Park was much bigger than South Park, but Kyle still wouldn’t really call it a big city. The buildings were taller and there were more shops and streets, but it could never compare to somewhere like, say, Denver. It gave the air of a city but was still small enough not to be too intimidating to the boys.

“The library isn’t too far away, right?” Cartman wondered, “I don’t want to do too much walking. And I’m getting hungry.”

“You didn’t have to come with us, you know,” Stan pointed out, “The library is about four blocks away.”

“Maybe if you’re good we’ll get you an ice cream afterwards,” Kyle teased. For a second, Cartman looked at Kyle, thinking he was serious for a moment. When he realized he wasn’t, he gave the Jew a scowl and a shove.

“Guys, stop screwing around!” Stan scolded them. He was walking ahead of them a few feet. “I want to get home before it gets dark out, so we’ve gotta walk faster!”

“Coming, Stan,” Kyle called. He grabbed Cartman’s arm and pulled him along, forcing him to walk faster so they could catch up to Stan.

Finally, they got to the library, which actually wasn’t much bigger than the one in South Park. Without hesitation, Stan led the way inside. It wasn’t very busy inside; there were only a few people, and almost all of them were using the computers.

Kyle took the lead this time and walked over to the reception desk. A very bored looking librarian sat there, popping gum, and reading a magazine. Kyle cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Excuse me, we reserved a high school yearbook from 1998,” he told her when she looked up, “May we check it out?”

The librarian blinked slowly at him for a moment before sighing. “Yeah, I’ve got it,” she muttered in a voice that made it very obvious that she didn’t appreciate the fact that they were making her actually work. She got up from her chair and as slowly as possible, made her way over to where all the yearbooks for the North Park schools were kept.

As she lazily scanned them, looking for the right one, Kyle had to gently lean against Stan to keep him from getting annoyed. He heard his friend tapping his foot in irritation and could feel him starting to shake.

“Calm down, Stan,” Kyle murmured to him, “It’ll be all right. We’ll get the yearbook and then we’ll be one step closer to solving this mystery.”

“I know,” Stan muttered, folding his arms, “I just wish this librarian would hurry the fuck up. Doesn’t she know how urgent this is?”

“Apparently not,” Cartman commented.

When the librarian came back with the right yearbook, Stan quickly snatched it out of her hands and raced over to a table with Kyle and Cartman following.

“Hey! I still have to scan that- oh whatever,” the librarian grumbled.

Stan sat down and eagerly started flipping through the book, scanning the pages for anyone they recognized. Kyle leaned over his shoulder, trying to look as well. It broke Kyle’s heart a little, seeing the faces of the teens who were kidnapped ten years ago. He wondered what they were like before they were kidnapped.

“Here!” Stan suddenly exclaimed, “Here’s where the staff pages are! Maybe our culprit is in here!” He carefully looked over the pages, checking to see if there were any familiar names or faces. As turned to the third staff page, Kyle stopped him.

“Wait,” he said, putting a finger in crease of the book, “Are some of these pages… torn out?” They looked closer and saw that it had been done very carefully, but yes, a few pages had been torn out. Stan cursed loudly.

“Damn it!” he hissed, “Fuck! I was sure we were going to get somewhere finally!” Groaning in misery, Stan hid his face in his hands. Kyle and Cartman looked at each other, and then Kyle put an arm around Stan.

“It’s ok, Stan,” he murmured, “We can still get something out of this. Now, I imagine if the pages are ripped out of this book, they’re ripped out of the other books as well. But not all is lost yet.”

“It’s not?” Cartman asked, skeptical.

“No, we still have our leads,” Kyle pointed out, “And I’m sure with enough research we can find out who was on those pages that they didn’t want us to see. Plus, this just proves that something incriminating was in them.”

As they headed home, Kyle tried to keep their spirits high, but he knew Stan was just so defeated. He had thought they might have found out who kidnapped Wendy and the others. As they sat on the bus going back to South Park, Kyle gently rubbed Stan’s arm in comfort. He didn’t know if it helped much, but he just wanted his friend to know he was there for him.

“Seriously?” Cartman suddenly muttered as he stared at his phone. Kyle looked at him.

“What?” he asked.

“You know that dance the school was thinking of putting on?” Cartman wondered, “But then everyone started getting kidnapped? Well they’re going to put it on anyway.”

“Really?” Kyle was in shock, “That’s a really bad idea! And in poor taste, if you ask me.”

“I agree,” Cartman replied, “And they put that it’s to ‘honor’ them as if they’re dead. We don’t know that for certain!”

Beside them, Stan scoffed. “I bet it was one of the seniors who convinced the school to go through with it,” he grumbled, “Sure, that many kids in one place while a kidnapper is about is dangerous, but have you noticed that it’s only kids from our grade getting kidnapped?”

“Yeah, I did,” Kyle sighed, “I don’t think some people are taking this as seriously as they should be.”

The rest of the bus ride was spent in silence. When they finally got back to South Park, the three of them started walking back to their homes. They walked very close to each other, as if fearful that one of them would be snatched away if they weren’t close enough. They reached Cartman’s house first and bid him good night before taking the short walk to their own homes.

“Hey Kyle,” Stan suddenly said, “Will you spend the night with me? I really don’t want to have to be alone. And you know how much comfort Shelly is.”

Kyle allowed himself a small smile. “Of course, dude,” he replied, “Let me just text my mom so she doesn’t worry about me.” Stan nodded as Kyle pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to his mom. He also sent a text to Ike, warning him to stay indoors tonight. Ike had black hair, and Kyle didn’t want to risk the kidnapper breaking pattern and kidnapping his brother.

Sharon was very relieved when Kyle and Stan walked into the Marsh house, (Stan had forgotten to tell his parents where they were going.)

“Good job, Stan,” Kyle teased as the two sat in the living room, waiting for dinner to be ready. As soon as Sharon made sure the two were okay, she had immediately started yelling at Stan for being irresponsible. Stan rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, man,” he muttered good-naturedly, “Did you tell your mom where we were going?”

“Yes,” Kyle replied simply. Stan frowned at him but chose not to respond.

After a minute of watching TV in silence, Stan suddenly turned to Kyle. “Hey Kyle?”

“Yeah?” Kyle moved his eyes away from the screen to look at his friend.

“Thanks for sticking with me,” Stan said, looking away slightly, “I really needed a friend through all this.” Kyle smiled a little.

“Dude, you don’t have to keep thanking me for being your friend,” he told him, “I’ll always be here for you.” He put an arm around Stan’s shoulders and pressed him close, trying to ignore the fluttery feeling in his heart.

Now wasn’t the time for his silly feelings for Stan. He had to be there for his friend in his time of need. No matter how he felt.

Their moment of solitude was broken when the news came on. A reporter was standing on the street where a bunch of police cars had blocked off a section of it. A sinking feeling landed in Kyle’s stomach.

Oh no, he thought, who got kidnapped this time?

“We’re here at the scene of another kidnapping,” the reporter said, “Where minutes ago the destroyed cell phone of one Kevin Stoley was discovered.”

Kyle felt horrible that he had a moment of relief that it wasn’t anyone he was really close to. But at the same time, Kevin was such a nice kid. Sure, he was a little odd, but Kyle still felt bad. He let out a long sigh.

“So that’s six people kidnapped,” he muttered, “Next are the red heads.” He looked over at Stan and saw him staring back with a worried expression. “What?”

“You have red hair,” Stan pointed out, “I don’t want to lose you too! Kyle, please promise me you’ll be extra careful!”

“Stan, I-“

“Please!”

Kyle sighed slightly and gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Stan, I’ll be careful,” he promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt it was important to put Kyle’s chapter right after Clyde’s to show how similar their situations are, but how differently they dealt with it. The next chapter may take a while to get out, because it’s going to be rather hard to write. You’ll see what I mean.


	12. Tweek/Craig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new victims are experimented on. Also angst, and a lot of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to warn you right now: the ending of this chapter is HEARTBREAKING! Like as I think about it and write it I am in tears. I debated changing it to have a happy ending, but I knew I couldn’t do that because it would ruin the whole story. So, here’s your warning. Get ready for it.
> 
> This chapter will also be a bit different as near the middle I’m going to go back and forth between Tweek and Craig’s perspectives. Just so you know.
> 
> (Sorry this and my other stories have taken so long to update. I’ve been really feeling my depression lately, and it’s hard for me to get motivated to write when I’m like this. I start to feel like all my work is crap when I get like that. I’ll try to have chapters up sooner.)

By the time Kevin was kidnapped, Tweek’s vision had returned. It was nice to see again, but he wished his surroundings were less dreary. The man had not injected Kenny, Butters, and him again, but he had injected Wendy, Nichole, and Kevin as soon as he brought Kevin down to the basement. Tweek was surprised by how the serum affected them. Wendy became mute, Nichole couldn’t control the volume of her voice, and Kevin couldn’t speak above a whisper. It was rather creepy.

Kevin was wrapped in the blanket now, shivering with fear. Tweek had felt a little guilty that he got to use a blanket to keep himself warm just because Jackson liked him more. So, instead of hogging it to himself, he started passing it to the others. They decided to rotate every night who got the blanket, so everyone got a turn with it. It made them all feel at least a little better, despite everything.

There was the sudden sound of the basement door opening, and stronger light flooded into the room, making everyone cringe and flinch. Tweek curled up, but he knew it was no use. He knew who was coming down the steps, and he knew it was useless to struggle against him.

“AGH! TURN DOWN THAT LIGHT!” Nichole shouted, “IT’S TOO BRIGHT! IT’S HURTING MY EYES!”

Jackson ignored her and went over to Tweek. He unlocked his shackles and hauled the blond to his feet. Then he dragged him out of the room. Tweek tried not to let tears come to his eyes, as he knew exactly where they were going.

As soon as they reached the bedroom, Jackson threw Tweek onto the bed and then started pacing around in annoyance. Tweek huddled up near the pillows, using one to shield himself from Jackson.

“God, your stupid boyfriend makes me so angry!” he hissed, stomping around the room, “Do you know what he did to me yesterday? He fucking attacked me for no reason!”

Tweek knew Jackson was exaggerating, as Craig never attacked anyone without a reason, but he didn’t say so out loud. He simply continued to stare as Jackson stormed around.

“He’s cheating on you, you know!” Jackson continued, “I’ve seen it! He’s been making out with that Clyde kid! It’s like he doesn’t even care about you!”

“No…” Tweek whispered, and he felt his heart breaking, “No, Craig would never cheat on me! He cares about me!” Doesn’t he?

Jackson scoffed. “I don’t know about that,” he hissed, “He’s in such denial, he attacked me for it. Because he doesn’t want to face the truth that I know his dirty little secret!” He looked over at Tweek and saw the tears in his eyes. Quickly relaxing his anger, he climbed onto the bed next to him.

“Hey, don’t be upset,” he said in a gentle voice, “Even if that scumbag doesn’t appreciate you, I still love you.” He went to put an arm around Tweek, but he flinched away from the older boy. Jackson sighed.

He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but suddenly a ringing sound came from his back pocket. Cursing under his breath, Jackson pulled it out and answered it.

“What?” he snapped. Tweek strained his ears to try to hear what the other person was saying. He could only catch snippets, though. Something about “pools” and “ambush” and “drowning.” Tweek shivered.

Jackson growled into the phone. “I don’t care how you do it! Just get rid of him!” he hissed. Then he angrily hung up and dropped the phone on the night stand. “Ugh, never have idiots as underlings,” he muttered.

Tweek didn’t reply. He was trying to figure out what that phone conversation was about, but it was too vague. Who were they trying to get rid of?

He flinched when Jackson sat up and wrapped his arms around him. He trembled nervously as he started kissing his neck and throat.

“Don’t worry, Tweek,” Jackson murmured, “Soon you won’t have to worry about anything. It’ll just be you and me.”

…

Craig didn’t care if was late out and he probably shouldn’t be walking around by himself. He just needed some alone time, some time to think without being smothered by people. He appreciated Clyde’s efforts to cheer him up, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was more than that. After all, Clyde had confessed he was in love with him. But Craig was dating Tweek, who was missing. Was Clyde trying to move in on him?

The thought made Craig stop in his tracks. No, he couldn’t possibly be. Clyde was his best friend. Even though he was in love with Craig, he had been totally ok with him dating Tweek. There was no way he was trying to replace him.

…Right?

Before Craig could think about it any longer, a burlap sack was suddenly thrown over his head, and he was grabbed from behind. Immediately a sense of panic and fear filled him, and he started struggling to free himself. He could hear at least four guys talking to each other, trying to hold him still. He felt his arms and legs being bound, in yet he still fought.

He felt himself being thrown into the back of a car and heard a door slam shut. Craig tried to control his breathing, as being thrown around so roughly had made him nearly pass out. His captors were talking in low voices and the roar of the engine made it so Craig couldn’t hear what they were talking about.

Suddenly, the car stopped, and Craig was dragged out. The burlap sack was still on his head, so he had no idea where he was. He heard a door open as he continued struggling, even though he knew it was hopeless.

Just when he was wondering what they were going to do with him, Craig suddenly felt himself being thrown, and a moment later his body hit water and he was instantly submerged. He let out an involuntary gasp, and water immediately filled his lungs.

The moment Craig hit the water, Tweek shot up from the bed, gasping for air. Jackson stared in surprise at him as the blond fell to the floor. Leaping to his side, Jackson stared down at him with shock and fear.

“Tweek?” he called, “What’s wrong? Are you having trouble breathing?”

Both Craig and Tweek struggled for air, as Craig fought to free himself and Tweek clawed at the bedsheets. What was happening? Why couldn’t he breath? They could both feel themselves starting to pass out, and Jackson watched hopelessly.

Just as Craig was thinking he was going to drown, he felt himself suddenly being pulled out of the water. The sack was torn off his head, and he took a huge breath of air. As he fell to the floor, gasping and coughing, with his eyes squeezed shut, he felt someone remove his bindings. It was several minutes before Craig got his breath back and he opened his eyes and rolled over to see his rescuer.

“C-Clyde?” Craig coughed, “What are you doing here? Where did those guys who captured me go?”

“I managed to fight them off with a pole,” Clyde replied, “I was staring out my bedroom window when I saw those guys jump you, so I hopped on my bike and followed after them. I’m so glad I did. You nearly drowned!”

“Thank you, I’m aware,” Craig muttered, sitting up. He was completely soaked from head to toe, and he couldn’t stop shivering. But now that he was safe, he looked around and realized that they were in the pool room at the school.

Clyde leaned over and wrapped his arms around Craig, bringing his shivering body closer to his own warm and dry one. Craig gratefully leaned on him, embracing the warmth.

“Do you have any clue as to who those guys were?” Clyde asked after a moment.

“No,” Craig admitted, “They were talking in low voices, so I couldn’t hear them. I’m almost certain they’re with the kidnapper though. Maybe he found out that we’ve been investigating him and wants to take us out.”

Shivering at the thought, Clyde pressed Craig closer. “Come on,” he encouraged, “Let’s get you home so you can dry off. You don’t mind riding behind me on my bike, do you?”

“I guess not,” Craig said, leaning against Clyde as he led him out of the building.

Over in Jackson’s room, Tweek was laying on the floor, gulping in huge breaths of air as Jackson hovered over him.

“Tweek?” he called out lowly, “Are you okay? What happened?”

It was several moments before Tweek could answer. “I-I don’t know,” he breathed, panting slightly, “I just suddenly couldn’t breathe. It felt like I was drowning or something.”

Jackson’s face paled. He leaned over and carefully pulled Tweek to his feet. “Let’s get you to bed,” he murmured, “I’m not going to make you sleep in that basement tonight.”

Usually Tweek would want to object; he honestly preferred the basement to being with Jackson. But he was incredibly exhausted and confused and didn’t bother fighting him. Luckily, it seemed like Jackson wasn’t in the mood for sex tonight and simply laid down next to Tweek, wrapping the younger boy in his arms.

…

Stan and Kyle were over at Craig’s house early the next morning. He was still asleep when his mom let them in the house and they went up to his room. Clyde was asleep next to Craig with one arm draped over his friend’s torso. When the two entered, Stan cleared his throat and knocked on the door frame, startling Craig and Clyde awake.

“Hey guys,” Kyle greeted, “It’s like, one in the afternoon. What are you doing still asleep?” Craig groaned a little.

“We were up late last night,” he grumbled, “Some assholes kidnapped me and tried to drown me in the school’s pool.”

“Oh my God!” Stan exclaimed, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Craig replied. He sounded like he was still tired. “Luckily Clyde saw the whole thing and saved me.”

“Do you think they were in cahoots with our kidnapper?” Kyle wondered.

“Probably,” Clyde answered, “We’re probably going to have to start being more careful from now on. If those guys really are with the kidnapper, then that must mean he knows we’re investigating. We might even be close to something he wants to stay hidden.”

“We’re going to have to start being a lot more careful from now on then,” Stan muttered.

Stan and Kyle then told them about their journey to North Park the previous day and how they found several pages from the year book torn out. They also explained their theory about how whoever the kidnapper is probably was a teacher at North Park ten years ago, and Craig found himself agreeing. It made sense after all.

After they left, Craig gave serious consideration to going back to bed, but Clyde would have none of it.

“Come on, man, you can’t spend all day in bed,” Clyde urged his friend. Craig merely grunted in reply, causing Clyde to sigh. “Hey, I know this sick party that’s going on tonight. Maybe we could go to it. Might help you take your mind off things.”

Craig looked up at his friend from where he lay on the bed and sighed. “Fine,” he muttered, “If it’ll make you happy.”

…

Jackson laid on top of Tweek, kissing him deeply, and his arms wrapped around him. He moaned as he kissed the small blond, and Tweek could only try hard not to shudder. He could only be glad that it was just kissing and not sex. He was trying not to think of how rough the stubble on Jackson’s face felt against his skin, or how Jackson subconsciously grinded against him. It may or may not have been hard to believe, but Tweek really would have preferred to be back in the basement with the others. At least he wasn’t afraid of them.

“Oh Tweek,” Jackson murmured as he started kissing his neck, “I could just lay here and kiss you all day and night. Why can’t I just keep you in my arms forever?”

Tweek didn’t reply, even though he could think about a dozen witty comebacks to that question. But even thinking about it made him miss Craig, as Craig probably would’ve come up with those and even more. He stared dully at the room as Jackson continued kissing his neck.

As he stared at the door, he let out a loud startled yelp when there was a sudden knock on the door. Jackson sighed with annoyance and sat up, smoothing down his shirt and trying to look presentable.

“Come in!” he called.

The door opened, and half a dozen teens came pouring in. Tweek stared in surprise as Jackson grinned at him. “These are some of my friends, Tweek,” he explained, “They’re totally loyal to me, so don’t go thinking they’re going to help you escape. Not that you would want to, of course.”

“Hey man!” called one of the girls, “Are we gonna start this thing or what?” Tweek flinched as she whipped off her top, exposing her breasts.

Jackson’s friends all started stripping their clothes until they were all naked. Jackson grinned and started undressing himself, and Tweek scrambled into the corner and curled up in fear. What were they doing? Why was everyone naked?!

He was answered when one of the guys shoved a girl onto the bed and started having sex with her. Tweek watched with horror as Jackson and his friends started having sex with each other. Jackson let a guy go down on him as he massaged the tits of another girl.

As Tweek continued to stare in fear, one the guys started walking over to him. Tweek curled up even further, trying to make himself as small as possible.

“Hey little cutie,” the guy cooed, “How about having a little fun with me?” Tweek squeaked in fear.

“Hey!” Jackson snapped. He pushed the guy giving him a blowjob away and stormed over to Tweek and the other guy. “Back off, man! This one’s mine! Don’t you dare touch him!”

The guy slowly backed away and went back to the orgy. Jackson casted a quick look at Tweek before returning as well. The orgy continued for well over an hour before everyone finished, with Tweek cowering in the corner the whole time.

The entire room stank of sex and sweat, and Tweek had to stop himself from gagging. Everyone lay around, panting and breathing hard. Jackson was the only one who wasn’t out of breath, as he leaned back against the pillows with his arms behind his head.

“You losers better get your act together if you want to make it to tonight’s party,” Jackson sneered at them. His friends all gave him annoyed looks.

“Give us a minute, Jackson,” one of the guys growled, “We can’t last as long as you.”

Jackson smirked at them. He looked over at Tweek shivering in the corner. Then he got an idea and smiled.

“Everyone, get dressed,” he commanded, “We’re going to that party. And we’re taking Tweek with us.” Everyone, including Tweek, looked at him with surprise.

“Uh, are you sure that’s a good idea?” one of the girls wondered, “What if someone at the party recognizes Tweek and calls the cops?” Jackson scoffed.

“We’re going to be wearing disguises, stupid,” he explained, “All of us will. I just want my love to get out of this house for a while. And don’t worry, he’ll be by my side the whole time.” He walked over to Tweek and hauled him to his feet.

Tweek shivered with anticipation. This could be his one chance to escape. He was determined not to mess it up.

…

The party was taking place in an old run-down house that a bunch of teenagers had basically taken over. There were strobe lights flashing and music blaring and black light streaming. It made the house loud and dark. There was barely an inch of space between dancing bodies of people. Craig absolutely hated it. Why had he agreed to come here? Oh yeah, because Clyde thought it would be a good idea.

Honestly, if he wasn’t there with Clyde he wouldn’t be there at all, even on a good day. Craig had never been fond of being surrounded by strangers, and even though South Park was a small town, he didn’t recognize anyone here.

Keeping close to Clyde, Craig was quickly growing annoyed from being shoved around by dancing people. He pressed against Clyde as his friend led him over to where there was a table serving punch that had no doubt been spiked.

On the opposite side of the room, Jackson and his gang were just arriving, dressed up in outfits that hid well who they were, but also made them blend into the crowd. Jackson had a firm grip on Tweek’s arm to keep him close, and one of his lackeys stood on the other side of Tweek so he couldn’t try to talk to anyone.

“Dude! This party is so sick!” one of Jackson’s girls exclaimed.

“Someone go get us some drinks!” Jackson ordered, “And let’s really get this party going!” He turned to Tweek and tugged him closer. “Would like a drink, honey?” he asked.

Tweek silently shook his head, as he scanned the crowd, trying to find just one familiar face. If there was someone, anyone, maybe he would be able to come up with a way to escape.

It was then that Tweek spotted them, and his heart practically stopped. Craig and Clyde, together, about half way across the room. Where Jackson and his gang were, they were on a raised platform that overlooked the rest of the room, so Tweek could see Craig and Clyde clearly. His heart started thundering.

If only there was a way to get their attention! Sure, Jackson had put a disguise on him, but it mostly just clothes that Tweek would never wear. Surely his own boyfriend would be able to recognize him still!

Tweek felt his breath catch in his throat as Clyde suddenly looked his way and locked eyes with him. For a moment Tweek feared that he wouldn’t recognize him, but then Clyde’s eyes widened as realization dawned on him. Tweek’s heart leaped. Yes! Now Clyde could tell Craig and they could rescue him!

He watched with eager anticipation as Clyde turned to Craig and said something to him. He waited for Clyde to point him out and for Craig to turn and see him. But Tweek’s heart started to sink when Clyde pulled Craig in the opposite direction, away from Tweek and Jackson.

“No!” Tweek whispered with fear, “No! What is he doing?”

“Come on, Craig,” Clyde said as he pulled his friend away, “I think you could use a drink. It might loosen you up!”

“I don’t want a drink, Clyde,” Craig muttered, “You know that punch is probably spiked.” Clyde looked at him.

“Yeah, that’s why it’ll loosen you up,” he explained, “Here, I’ll get one and you can just have one sip. All right?” Craig let out a heavy sigh.

“Only for you, Clyde,” he murmured.

As Clyde left his side to get a drink, Craig suddenly felt a wave of anticipation wash over him. Anxiety flared within him and his heart started beating faster. What was happening? Why was he suddenly feeling like this?

When Clyde returned, Craig took the drink from him and took a long sip, but it did little to calm his nerves. Clyde gave him a concerned look.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Craig muttered, “I just feel so anxious all of a sudden.”

“Come on, let’s move over here,” Clyde suggested, leading him towards the far end of the house. But something suddenly compelled Craig to turn around and scan the crowd.

And finally, their eyes met. Tweek’s eyes widened as Craig finally saw him and his face instantly lit up with recognition. He saw Craig’s mouth move, but he couldn’t hear what he said. But Tweek didn’t care. Craig saw him. He knew him. He would save him.

“Clyde!” Craig hissed, gripping Clyde’s arm, “It’s Tweek! He’s here!” He pointed excitedly over at him. He could see that someone was holding Tweek’s arm, preventing him from moving, but he didn’t know who it was.

As much as he wanted to just run over and grab Tweek, Craig knew he had to be smart about it. He couldn’t let Tweek’s captor see him, or he would drag Tweek away and he would be lost. Ignoring Clyde who was trying to pull him away for some reason, Craig slowly and methodically started weaving his way through the dancing crowd towards Tweek.

Tweek watched Craig with his eyes, trying not to draw attention to what he was doing. Currently, Jackson had a drink in his hand and was talking to his friends, ignoring Tweek. His grip on his arm had even loosened, and Tweek needed to keep it that way. He carefully inched forward a bit, hoping Jackson wouldn’t notice.

Craig was almost there. He could reach out for Tweek. Eagerly, Tweek held out his free hand. Only a few more inches and Craig could grab him and take him away…

“Dude! Watch out! It’s Craig!” someone shouted, and suddenly the person holding Tweek started yanking backwards. Gasping, Tweek pulled back, desperately reaching for Craig as he pushed his way through the crowd and reached out to Tweek. Craig knew if he could just take a hold of Tweek’s hand, he would never let go, no matter how strong this person was. Just one inch more…

Suddenly one of the dancing people pushed a drunk person away from them and that drunkard stumbled into Craig, knocking him to the ground and out of Tweek’s reach.

“NO!” Tweek shouted, tears filling his eyes as Jackson and his friends pulled him away, “CRAIG!”

“TWEEK!” Craig cried, “NO! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME AGAIN!” He pushed the drunk guy off him and jumped to his feet. But Tweek was gone. Determined not to lose him, Craig pushed his way through the crowd towards the other exit, vaguely aware of Clyde calling to him.

Finally, he made it outside, only to see a car racing away into the distance, turn a corner and disappear. Craig stared after it in despair as tears filled his eyes. He fell to his knees and let out a strangled cry of grief.

“NO!” he sobbed, “No! No! No! No! I was so close! I almost had him back! Why, God? Why?” He didn’t care if he was causing a scene. He continued crying until he felt someone kneel down beside him and wrap him in his arms. Sobbing, Craig pressed his face into Clyde’s chest.

“Clyde,” he whispered, “I was so close!”

“Shh…” Clyde shushed him, “I know, Craig, I know. I’m so sorry.”

He carefully pulled Craig to his feet, keeping his arms around him the whole time. “Let’s go home,” he murmured, “And forget about this whole day.”

Craig didn’t say anything and simply allowed himself to be led away from the still partying house.

…

As soon as Jackson got Tweek back to his room, Tweek collapsed on the bed, sobbing. Jackson had sent his friends home as he didn’t really feel like partying anymore. More than anything he regretted bringing Tweek to the party. He had just wanted Tweek to be able to get out of the house for a while. If he had known Craig would be there he wouldn’t have brought him. He sat on the bed staring at Tweek who was curled up and crying uncontrollably.

“Craig…” he breathed, tears rolling down his face, “Oh Craig! I miss you so much! Craig!” Jackson bit his lower lip.

“I’m sorry Tweek,” he murmured, “I shouldn’t have brought you to that party. I didn’t know Craig would be there. I want you to be happy, but I simply can’t let you go. You understand, right?”

“NO!” Tweek snapped at him, “I don’t! You claim to love me! You say you want me to be happy! But you keep me away from the love of my life! You rape me! You keep me locked up! I don’t think you have the slightest idea what love is!”

With that, Tweek curled up again and went back to crying. Jackson didn’t say anything. He simply laid down on the bed and turned off the lamp. He listened to Tweek’s tortured sobs all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn. This chapter was way longer than I meant it to be. And it was really hard to write. I am not used to writing straight up angst with no happy ending. In Paranoia it was different when Tweek had his melt down, because I knew it was going to be better next chapter. That is not the case here. Things aren’t going to get better for a while.
> 
> I hope this didn’t bum you out too much and that you aren’t too mad with how long this took. Like I said, depression man. It sucks. But now that I’ve got this chapter out of the way maybe I can start writing more. Anyway, leave a comment and I’ll try to have the next chapter out sooner!


	13. Token

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Token, Craig, Clyde, and Jimmy hang out to try to forget about recent events, but they get some bad news. And Token starts to suspect that Clyde knows more than he's letting on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, that last chapter was lovely and happy, wasn’t it? No, no it wasn’t. Anyway, we’re going back to Token today and maybe things won’t be as emotional this time. But probably not. Anyway, here. Sorry this took so long to update.

When Token finally felt like rolling out of bed, he went over to Craig’s house. Since Craig had lost Tweek, he knew he would understand how he felt about losing Nichole. Besides, it had been a few days since he left the house and he didn’t want to worry his parents. And he wanted to see his friends again.

Token arrived at Craig’s house in no time riding his bike. He knocked on the door and was rather annoyed when Clyde was the one who answered.

“What do you want?” he hissed, narrowing his eyes.

“I came to visit Craig,” Token answered, struggling to keep his voice level, “He’s my friend too, you know. You can’t hog him to yourself.”

Clyde’s eyes grew narrower. “Craig’s not really in the mood to receive visitors right now,” he said, starting to close the door. Token quickly blocked him.

“I think that’s more for Craig to decide,” he growled, “Damn it, Clyde! He’s my friend! I haven’t seen him in a while! I’m coming in!”

Token then roughly pushed the door open and slipped into the house before Clyde could stop him. He didn’t see Craig in the living room and decided he must be in his room. Ignoring Clyde’s glares, he hurried up the steps to Craig’s room. He knocked softly on the door before entering.

Craig was curled up on his bed, his eyes staring off into the distance. He didn’t seem to notice that Token was there, and he didn’t react when the dark-skinned boy went over to sit next to him on the bed. He seemed even more distant than usual, making Token wonder what had happened.

Token carefully leaned over and put a gentle hand on Craig’s arm. Slowly, very slowly, Craig’s eyes turned to look at him. His mouth opened, and he barely managed to rasp out, “Token.” A sad smile came to Token’s lips.

“Hey Craig,” he greeted softly, “I haven’t seen you in a couple of days. I was getting worried about you, buddy.”

“I’m sorry,” Craig rasped out. It sounded like he hadn’t spoken in a quite a few hours, or maybe even a day or two. “I meant to call you after I saw the news about Nichole. I’m really sorry about that.”

“It’s all right,” Token assured him, “I’m sure you were busy or something.” He paused a moment before asking, “Are you all right? You seem um… more distant than usual.”

With great difficulty, Craig slowly and achingly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He cast his sad eyes on Token. “I saw Tweek yesterday,” he said, his voice almost a whisper. Token felt his body freeze up.

“What do you mean you saw him?” he asked, “Like, in a dream?” Craig shook his head.

“No,” he replied, “Clyde and I went to a party last night. Clyde said it would help me get my mind off things. It was really crowded and there was music blaring. A-And I couldn’t help but feel anxious about something. Then I turned around and I saw him! He was there! There were some people holding him and I tried to get him! B-But they dragged him away!”

Token took a step back as Craig got more and more frantic. He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed the front of Token’s shirt. “Token!” he hissed, “I was so close! I almost had him back! I was just an inch away from having him back in my arms!”

Craig took a shuddering breath and collapsed on his bed. Token stared sadly down at him. His friend had covered his face with his hand, obviously not wanting Token to see the tears in his eyes. But he could still see the shudders running through his body. Token sat down and gently rubbed Craig’s back.

“I’m so sorry, Craig,” he murmured, “That must have been really hard.” Craig didn’t say anything as Token struggled to think of a way to make him feel better. “Um, well at least you know he’s still alive. Did you manage to see who was holding him?”

“No,” Craig muttered, “They were all in disguise. Plus, there were lights flashing and I couldn’t see their faces very well.” He let out a shuddering breath. “I failed him.”

Before Token could say anything, Clyde brushed past him to be at Craig’s side. He leaned down and murmured something in Craig’s ear and Token desperately tried to hear what he was saying. After a moment, Clyde sat up again and Craig sat up with him.

“Can we just hang out somewhere for a while? I just need to take my mind off of everything for a bit,” Craig requested. Token forced himself to smile.

“Of course, buddy,” Token said, “Where ever you want to go and whatever you want to do we’ll do it. You want to give Jimmy a call and see if he wants to hang out as well?”

A small smile came to Craig’s face. “Yeah,” he replied, “Invite Jimmy. He always manages to make things better.”

Clyde nodded and pulled out his phone to call Jimmy while Token helped Craig to his feet. When the three of them got outside they saw Jimmy coming up the street. He smiled when he saw his friends.

“H-Hey fellas!” he called, “G-Glad ya wanted to socialize… glad you wanted to socialize… glad you wanted to hang out again! I-I was g-g-getting worried that you for-for-forgot about me!”

Token grinned at him. “Nah, we would never forget about you, man!” he assured him, “We’ve just been you know… going through things.”

Jimmy nodded, apparently wise enough not to bring up the recent kidnappings. “So, what are w-w-we doing to-today?” he wondered.

“Whatever Craig wants to do,” Clyde told him, “It’s his turn to choose.”

Craig shrugged a little. “I don’t care,” he said, “Let’s just go somewhere. Anywhere.”

“Hey, I know, why don’t we go by that burger place? Get something to eat?” Token suggested, “I know I haven’t eaten yet.”

“I c-c-could go for a b-b-burger,” Jimmy agreed.

The four of them slowly walked towards the burger shop, with Jimmy chatting the whole way to keep the mood light. Even if it didn’t do much, Token appreciated the effort.

The Burger Joint was a restaurant that opened a few years ago right next to Raisons. It was a popular place for teens and pre-teens to hang out and eat a delicious burger. It was also probably one of the only places in South Park that actually had any quality, so young people flocked to it, including Token and his friends.

Unusually the place was rather empty when the four friends arrived. Ordinarily the entire room was packed with teens. But probably due to the recent kidnappings there was barely anyone there. Token tried to stop himself from feeling so down and hopeless. He put on his best ordinary smile.

“So, where do you guys want to sit?” he asked.

“I d-d-don’t know,” Jimmy replied in a sarcastic sort of way, “It’s j-just so c-c-crowded today, we’ll be l-l-lucky if we g-get a table!”

Clyde snickered at his comment and led the group over to an empty table. Token took a glance around and saw that the only other people here were the goths and a small group of girls. They were talking quietly in their groups, as if they were worried that the kidnapper was nearby and might use their gossip to kidnap them or something.

“I’m thinking of signing up to continue my classes,” Token commented after the waiter took their drink order, “I don’t want to fall behind in school, you know?”

“I’ll probably do the same,” Craig said, “Maybe doing some busy work will help me take my mind off of everything.” Token nodded in agreement and tried not to glare when Clyde put his hand on top of Craig’s.

“W-We should all d-do it,” Jimmy suggested, “After all, there’s s-safety in num… there’s safety in num… we’ll be safer that way.” The others quietly agreed.

“Are any of you guys going to go to the dance?” Token wondered, “I’m not really sure if I am. I wanted to go with Nichole, but you know…”

“Yeah,” Craig nodded in understanding, “I’m still on the fence about it. Again, it might help me take my mind off of things, but on the other hand I know it’s going to be really depressing.” Clyde gently rubbed the top of his hand.

“I’ll prob-probably go,” Jimmy replied, “Maybe I c-c-could help cheer everyone up.”

Token grinned. “I’ll definitely go if you’re there, Jimmy,” he said, “Just try not to make too many racists jokes.”

“I make no promises,” Jimmy said with a grin.

When their food arrived they ate in silence. Munching on his burger, Token glanced up and saw that one of the TVs on the wall was turned to the news. The newscaster was talking about how the police still had no leads on the kidnapper. Token sighed.

“I really wish we had better police,” he muttered, “I can’t believe that they still haven’t discovered any leads yet.”

“Yeah,” Clyde agreed lowly, swirling a fry around in his pool of ketchup, “You’d think it would be obvious by now.” Token gave him a strange look.

“And why is that?” he questioned. Clyde looked up, a bit startled, as if he hadn’t realized he had spoken out loud.

“B-Because so many teens have been kidnapped,” he answered quickly, “No one could possibly pull off that many kidnappings without leaving behind some sort of evidence. I mean, we found out a few leads and we don’t even work for the police.”

“Right,” Token said slowly. None of them said anything else as they continued eating their meals. But Token couldn’t stop his mind from swarming with thoughts. Did Clyde know more about the kidnappings than he was letting on? When he had spoken it sort of sounded as though he knew who it was or something.

Before he could let his thoughts wander anymore, he suddenly heard Jimmy gasp beside him. Startled, he looked over at his friend and saw that he was staring at the TV. He looked up and immediately knew what was wrong.

The words “Breaking News” was scrolling across the screen as camera crews filmed a spot near the park where police tape was being put up. The TV’s volume was too low to hear exactly what was happening, but news feed at the bottom told them exactly what had happened.

Right there in bold letters. “14-Year-Old Timothy Burch Kidnapped Near Stark’s Pond.” Token felt his heart drop in his chest. Timmy was Jimmy’s best friend. They hardly went anywhere without each other unless Jimmy was hanging out with Craig and the others. How could anyone be so heartless as to kidnap a handicapped kid?

“Jimmy,” Token said quietly, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry.”

“N-No…” Jimmy whispered, “N-Not T-Timmy. Not him! A-A-Anybody b-but him!” There were tears coming to his eyes, and Token had never seen Jimmy look so devastated. He felt his own heart breaking just looking at him.

Before Craig or Clyde could try to console him, Jimmy stood up. “I h-have to g-go,” he muttered. He picked up his crutches and slowly hobbled out of the building. Token sadly watched him leave.

“God, what’s happening to this town?” he wondered, “How could anyone do this? Can’t this kidnapper see how miserable he’s making everyone?”

Token didn’t want to bring everything down, but it was just so frustrating to him. To him it felt like the police just weren’t trying hard enough. This was the biggest thing to happen to South Park in years. Shouldn’t the local government be doing everything in its power to try to solve it?

He startled Craig and Clyde when he suddenly slammed his fists down on the table. “Gah! It’s just so stupid and frustrating!” he exclaimed, “Surly someone must know something! There has to be something they’re overlooking!”

Craig let out a small sigh. “I know how you feel,” he murmured, “Stan, Kyle, Clyde, and I have been trying so hard to find out anything, and we’ve barely got a lead. I just can’t believe that there’s nothing else the police can do.”

“I’m sorry, Craig,” Token muttered, “We were supposed to help you get your mind off things, but if anything it’s gotten worse.”

“It’s ok,” Craig replied quietly, “I knew it wasn’t going to work anyway. Nothing ever helps.” He rested his head in his arms as Token and Clyde stared at him sadly. Clyde leaned over and quietly spoke to Craig in a voice too low for Token to hear.

Token stared at Clyde and not for the first time wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling his friends.

…

The three of them walked home in silence as the sky started to grow dark. When they got to Craig’s house, Clyde was about to follow him inside, but Craig stopped him.

“I’m sorry guys,” he said in a low voice, “I know you’re just trying to make me feel better, but right now I really just want to be left alone. I’ll call you both tomorrow.” With that, he quietly shut the door behind him.

With a sigh, Token turned and started walking down the pathway to the sidewalk. A moment later he heard Clyde follow him.

Good, Token thought, I need to have a word with him.

When they got to the sidewalk Token whipped around to face Clyde, who looked rather startled. Token gave him a slight glare.

“All right, Clyde, what do you know about the kidnapper?” he demanded.

Clyde looked baffled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insisted, “I only know as much as anyone else does.”

“That’s bullshit, Clyde, and you know it!” Token hissed, “I think you know more than you’re willing to say.” Clyde glared dangerously at him.

“Are you accusing me of something?” he growled, taking a step forward.

“I think you know who the kidnapper is,” Token accused, “I think you’ve been lying to Craig and deceiving him because for some twisted reason you think that’ll make him like you. Am I right, Clyde?”

Clyde was silent for a moment as he glared daggers at Token. He looked as though he might explode at any moment. “You’d better watch what you say, Token,” he warned in low voice, “That mouth of yours could get you into trouble.”

“How can you stand there and not feel guilty about yourself?” Token wondered, “Seven people have been kidnapped, Clyde! You could fix all of this right now! Can’t you see how much everyone is suffering? Have you no conscious?”

“Stop accusing me of things you can’t prove, Token!” Clyde spat at him, “You’re making me angry!” Token scoffed at him.

“Oh sorry I hurt your sensitive little pride!” he taunted, “I can’t help that I’m right and you can’t accept it!”

Hissing with anger, Clyde marched forward and grabbed Token by the collar of his shirt. The two of them glared with all their hatred at each other. Token refused to let Clyde get off easy. He would make sure he knew what he was doing was wrong.

“I’m warning you, Clyde,” Token advised, “You’re going to make things worse for yourself if you don’t come clean soon! Craig will never forgive you!”

“Craig doesn’t have to know about anything,” Clyde countered, “And he never will. Because you can’t prove anything, Token. So, you’d better stay out of my way.”

With that, Clyde shoved Token away and marched off to his own house. Token leered after him, rage burning in his eyes.

“Fine, Clyde,” Token muttered under his breath, “If that’s how you want to do this then fine. Don’t blame me when everything crashes down around you, with no way to dig yourself back out.”

…

Token found himself lounging under a tree at Stark’s Pond the next day. It was a little hard to be here since there was police tape where Timmy had been kidnapped, but Token was restless and he couldn’t let himself sit inside all day. He had made sure there was plenty of people around before picking a spot to sit down. Just because he was mad didn’t mean he had to be careless. He was even in full view of the road, so people driving by could see him as well.

He had a book with him. It was one of Nichole’s favorite books, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. He had promised her he would read it and tell her what he thought. Though thinking of Nichole made him sad, but he thought maybe getting wrapped up in some silly magical pants for a while would help take his mind off of things. Besides, it helped him hold onto the hope that Nichole would be found.

After all, he had to tell her what he thought of the book.

He had just gotten to chapter four when he heard someone running and looked up. He was rather surprised to see Craig run to a nearby bench and sit down. He was breathing hard and looked like he was in distress. He stared out at the water with blank eyes.

Token closed his book and was about to get up to ask him if he was all right but stopped when he saw Clyde coming towards him. He sat back down and receded into the shadow of the tree. What was Clyde doing here? He watched as Clyde walked over and sat down next to Craig. They spoke in low voices and Token desperately wished he could hear what they were saying. What were they talking about?

He leaned forward a bit to try to hear what they were saying, but it was no use. He saw Craig lift his head and look at Clyde. And then what happened next completely shocked Token to his core.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, finally done with this chapter. Sorry it took so long. Next one is going to be with Clyde. I will make sure to have Stan and Kyle in it, though since it’s been a while since either of them had a chapter. But don’t worry, after the next chapter the chapter after that is a Kyle chapter. Anyway, who’s going to get kidnapped next? And what did Token see?


	14. Clyde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did Token see Clyde and Craig doing? And is the group ever going to learn anything new?

Clyde was worried about Craig. He knew he said he wanted to be alone, but he didn’t even want his best friend with him? He really hoped Craig hadn’t heard his confrontation with Token. It wouldn’t help his cause if Craig had heard him fighting with their friend again. And if he heard Token accuse him of knowing who the kidnapper was, Craig might grow suspicious!

Sitting in the living room of his house, Clyde wondered just how long Craig wanted to be alone. Would it be appropriate to go over and check on him soon? He really needed to know if Craig had heard the fight or not.

He got up and walked over to the window and looked out it. He was hoping he could catch a glimpse of Craig either in his room or the living room, but all the blinds were closed. Clyde sighed in frustration.

Screw it. He was going over there.

With determination, Clyde left his house and cut across the yard to Craig’s house. He knocked on the door and waited for a minute, but no one answered. He knocked again and gave it another minute before trying the door and finding it unlocked. He carefully opened the door and peered into the living room. No one was there.

Everyone must be gone, Clyde thought to himself. He made his way up to Craig’s room and softly knocked on the door.

“Craig?” he called, “Are you ok?” There was no response from the room. Worried, Clyde opened the door and went into the room.

The room was quite dark with the lights off and there were several fans blowing around the room. Clyde could see Craig laying on his bed with his back turned to him, bundled up under the covers. Cautiously, Clyde went over and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Craig?” he said quietly, “Are you all right? I’m worried about you.”

The only response Clyde got from his friend was a low moan. He leaned over and gently placed a hand on Craig’s back. He felt him shiver beneath him. Finally, Craig gently rolled over to look over at Clyde. He blinked slowly up at him.

“Clyde,” he murmured, “You’re here.”

“Of course I am,” Clyde replied, smiling softly, “I would never leave you, Craig. I love you. You’re my best friend.” He adjusted himself on the bed so he could sit more comfortably next to Craig. “How are you holding up? You kind of freaked out yesterday and shut us out.”

Craig shuddered. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, “Just seeing that this psycho would even kidnap a handicapped kid really freaked me out. If he’s willing to do that, who knows what he’s willing to do?”

Shivering, Clyde leaned down and wrapped his arms around Craig, hugging him tightly. He pulled his friend up into a sitting position and pressed him against himself. He gently started rubbing his back in small circles.

“Don’t worry, Craig,” Clyde murmured to him, “We’ll get Tweek back before anything happens to him. I feel like we’re getting really close.” And by that time you’ll hopefully have fallen deeply in love with me!

Craig let out a heavy sigh. He suddenly pulled away from Clyde and stared at him, wide-eyed. Clyde stared back at him, confused.

“What’s wrong?” he wondered. Craig got up, still staring.

“I… I… I have to go!” he exclaimed and bolted from the room. Clyde stood up, staring after him in shock. What just happened?

“Craig!” Clyde called after him. But he was already gone.

…

Clyde had no idea where Craig had run off to. Didn’t he know it was dangerous? He had already almost been killed once! Who knows where the kidnapper and his minions were? What if they were roaming around looking for their next victim? What if Craig was their next victim? Clyde stopped in his tracks.

Oh no. What if the kidnapper had already gotten to Craig and was holding him hostage? Or worse, what if Craig was already dead!? If Clyde had gotten Craig killed he would never forgive himself!

Wait, no there he was, sitting on a bench by Stark’s pond. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Clyde walked over to where Craig sat. He stood there silently for a moment, unsure of how to get his attention without startling him.

“Sorry for running out on you,” Craig suddenly said, making Clyde jump, “I just had to get out of there. I couldn’t take it.”

“Why?” Clyde asked, sitting down next to him, “What happened?”

Craig didn’t answer right away. He stared off towards the other end of the pond. “I was just thinking about how much you’ve been helping me these past few weeks,” he said at last, “Keeping me from completely breaking down. Helping us with the investigation. Just being there for me. At first, I thought you had some sort of goal in mind, but now I see you really do just want to help find Tweek.”

“Of course I do, Craig,” Clyde lied, “I would do anything for you. You’re my best friend, after all.” Craig looked up at him, his eyes shimmering with tears.

“Clyde,” he whispered, “I love you.”

Clyde felt his heart lifting in his chest. Before he could stop himself, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Craig’s and kissed him deeply. He relished the fact that Craig kissed him back and he opened his mouth to let him in. He wrapped Craig in his arms and pulled him close to his body and kissed him deeper.

They kissed and kissed until it got dark out and the street lights came on. When they did, they broke away, slightly embarrassed that they had been kissing for so long.

“I guess we should probably be getting home,” Craig pointed out, “I don’t want my mom to worry or anything.”

“Yeah,” Clyde agreed, “Um, it’s all right if I spend the night with you, right?”

A small smile came to Craig’s lips. “Of course,” he replied. They stood up and Clyde gently slipped his hand into Craig’s.

Clyde didn’t know how Craig was going to define their relationship from now on, but right now it didn’t matter. He had finally gotten Craig to fall in love with him. And Tweek was never going to get him back.

…

After dinner, Clyde and Craig spent the night in Craig’s room making out. Clyde was laying on top of his friend, kissing him deeply, ignoring anything going on around them. He was in Heaven right now, finally having Craig all to himself. He was vaguely aware of Tricia shouting something at them, but Clyde ignored it.

When they had finished kissing, Clyde rolled off of Craig and curled up next to him. He stared over at Craig, who had already fallen asleep. He smiled to himself and scooched closer, wrapping his arms around his friend.

“Good night, Craig,” he whispered, “I love you. I’ll always love you.”

Clyde slept well that night. His sleep was free from nightmares and he dreamt that Craig declared his never-ending love to him. That he had forgotten all about Tweek, and didn’t care whether he was rescued or not. And they were free to be together without anyone judging them. Like his dad, or Token.

He was shaken from his dreams and he grumbled as sunlight poured onto his face. Blinking awake, Clyde slowly opened his eyes and saw that Craig was the one who had woken him. He stretched and let out a yawn.

“Ugh, morning,” he mumbled, “Why are we up?”

“We’re going to school today,” Craig informed him, “Stan, Kyle, and I signed up for some classes so we could try to get more info. I hope you don’t mind, but I signed you up too.”

Clyde put on his best smile. “I don’t mind at all,” he said. There had been a small hope that once Craig had confessed his love for Clyde then he would ease up looking for Tweek. It was a small hope, admittedly, but there was always the chance, right?

Following Craig out of bed, Clyde quickly got dressed and grabbed some of his school things he had left at Craig’s house. On their way to meet Stan and Kyle at school, Craig explained to Clyde that they had signed up for classes with their most likely suspects, those being Mr. Biggleston, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Adder.

“Is it just going to be us four?” Clyde wondered. Craig shook his head.

“I think Cartman is going to be there and I talked to Token and Jimmy, they wanted to help, too,” he replied.

Clyde didn’t relish the idea of seeing Token again, especially after that last argument, but he didn’t say so out loud.

“There might be some other kids who don’t want to fall behind on school work as well,” Craig concluded.

Before Clyde could ask anymore questions, the school came into sight. He was quite surprised by the number of students milling about. No one was alone, everyone had at least two or three other people with them. Clyde would have been sure that most of them would rather be home than at school, but then again who was he to judge?

“Wow, there sure are a lot of people here for school being closed,” he noted.

“Yeah,” Craig agreed, his eyes scanning the crowd.

They watched as Kevin, Scott, and Jason walked by, huddled together and whispering about something. Several girls were by the entrance comparing notes. But Clyde couldn’t see Stan or Kyle, or the others Craig had mentioned anywhere.

“Are they not here yet?” he wondered, “Or maybe they already went inside?”

“I’ll send a text to Stan,” Craig decided, pulling out his phone. As he texted, Clyde suddenly heard someone marching up to them. He turned around and immediately pressed himself protectively against Craig as Jackson and his crew sauntered up to them.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Jackson sneered, “The gay lovers. Or should I say lover and cheater?” His friends chuckled beside him.

“Leave us alone, Jackson,” Clyde growled at him, “We’re just waiting for our friends.”

Instead of doing that, Jackson and his goons started circling the two friends, making sure they couldn’t escape. Clyde felt Craig press harder against him.

“You know, I’m getting pretty sick of you two telling us what to do all the time,” Jackson spat, “Walking around as if you own the school. You two make me sick.”

“Excuse me?” Clyde hissed, “We’re not the ones running rampant everywhere! Craig and I are just trying to get through this tragedy!”

Jackson opened his mouth to say something, but before he could someone called out to Clyde and Craig. They turned to see Stan, Kyle, and Cartman coming towards them. Jackson scowled as they approached.

“There you guys are!” Kyle exclaimed, “We’ve been looking everywhere for you. What are those douchebags doing here?”

Growling, Jackson said nothing and instead stormed past them with his goons following closely behind him. The group watched them go with distaste.

“What did they want?” Stan wondered. Craig sighed.

“To torment us,” he muttered, “That seems to always be what he wants.”

A moment of silence befell them, but Clyde quickly broke it. “Come on,” he said, “Let’s get to class. Um, where are we going first?”

“We have math with Mr. Adder first,” Stan replied, “Do you guys know if Token and Jimmy are here yet?”

Craig shook his head. “We haven’t seen them yet,” he told him.

“Maybe they’re inside,” Cartman suggested, “We should really get to class before we’re late. I’m sure creepy Mr. Adder will have a lecture for us if we are.”

“And he’ll be sure to record it,” Clyde muttered as the group went inside.

Walking through the hallways was just a bit creepy to Clyde as they made their way towards the classroom. Even if he wasn’t one of the ones who was paranoid that the kidnapper was going to pop out of every room, or from behind every corner, he still felt on edge.

Token and Jimmy were in Mr. Adder’s classroom when the others got there. Mainly out of habit, they all took the seats they normally took during class, despite more than have the room being empty.

“W-We w-were beginning to think y-y-you guys w-wouldn’t show,” Jimmy noted as they all took their seats. He still sounded sad and a bit disheartened.

“Sorry,” Craig murmured, “We were held up by Jackson.”

They didn’t get to say anything more as Mr. Adder entered. He already had his recorder out, making notes to himself as he walked in. He stared down the group in a creepy manner.

“Good morning, children,” Mr. Adder greeted in a low voice, “I am so glad that you’ve all decided to go against your common sense telling you to stay away so that you can pursue the finer points of math. Let’s get started, shall we?”

For the next hour, the teens sat in their seats, pretending to learn math as they studied Mr. Adder, trying to figure out if he could be the kidnapper or not. They did the same with Mr. Johnston in Chemistry and Mr. Biggleston in History. Mr. Adder was definitely the creepiest of the three of them, but did that make him a kidnapper?

After their classes were over, the group met up outside the school. Clyde stayed by Craig’s side, keeping an eye out to make sure Jackson didn’t ambush them again.

“So, what do you guys think?” Kyle asked, “Mr. Adder just get’s creepier and creepier every time I see him.”

“Boy, I’ll say,” Cartman muttered.

“We should probably do more investigating of him,” Craig decided, “I think he’s probably our most likely suspect right now.”

Clyde had to bite his tongue from blurting something out and instead nodded in agreement. He was about to say something, when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. In fact, everyone’s phones received a notification ding. Everyone pulled out their phones to check what was so important.

“Rebecca ‘Red’ (Last name omitted) was discovered missing last night when she failed to return home from cheerleading practice. Police are already sure it is the kidnapper from before and are investigating, but have not discovered any clues or leads.”

“Oh, that’s horrible!” Craig muttered, “He’s kidnapped another girl! When is this monster going to stop!?”

“Huh, I thought you would be more distraught, Craig,” Cartman commented. Craig gave him a confused look.

“Why?” he wondered, “It’s not like Red and I were really close or anything.”

“Yeah, but weren’t you two cousins?” Cartman asked. Now Craig just looked totally baffled.

“What? Who told you that?” he shouted, “We’re not cousins! We’re not even sort of related!” He sighed and rolled his eyes when he realized something. “You know, not everyone with red hair is related!”

“Yeah, Cartman,” Kyle agreed, “My mom and Kenny’s mom have red hair. Does that make us related?” Cartman grunted.

“Ok! Ok! I get it!” he snapped, “It was just something I heard! Jeez!”

Before the group separated, Craig and Clyde stopped Kyle. “Hey, be careful on your way home,” Craig said, “He still has one more redhead to kidnap, and it would be devastating if it was you he got.”

Kyle smiled gently. “Don’t worry, guys,” he assured them, “I’ll be with Stan the whole time. You don’t have to worry about me.” With that, he quickly ran off to join his friend.

As Clyde and Craig walked home, Clyde pressed against Craig’s side, Clyde sighed. “I don’t know why anyone would think Red was related to your dad,” he muttered, “Their hair isn’t even the same shade of red.”

“Yeah,” Craig murmured. Too late, Clyde realized his mistake.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to bring up your dad!” he exclaimed, quickly, “I wasn’t thinking! Oh God!”

Craig gave him a small, sad smile. “It’s ok, Clyde,” he said, “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” He put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Clyde smiled back at him.

“Come on. Let’s get home before my dad does or he’ll chew me out,” he said.

…

It didn’t take long for Clyde and Craig to start making out when they got back to Clyde’s house. Clyde gently pushed Craig over and laid on top of him before kissing him deeply. Craig wasn’t as into it as Clyde was, but he was actually kissing back. Clyde wrapped his arms around Craig’s neck, pulling him closer to his body. He pulled away briefly to stare into Craig’s eyes.

“I love you, Craig,” he murmured.

Craig gave him a soft smile. “I love you too, Clyde,” he whispered, “And I know that together we’ll find Tweek and the others. And everything can go back to normal. Everyone can be happy again.”

“Yeah,” Clyde muttered, fighting to keep the disappointment and annoyance out of his voice, “Everyone can be happy.” He leaned down and kissed Craig again, but it didn’t last very long before the front door suddenly slammed opened.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Mr. Donovan’s angry voice rang out, “GET AWAY FROM HIM!” Surprised, Clyde and Craig sprang apart. Clyde’s eyes widened in fear.

Roger Donovan was clearly intoxicated. He usually went to the bar on his way home from work, but Clyde hadn’t expected him to be home so soon. 

“Dad!” Clyde stumbled, “W-We were just…”

Mr. Donovan ignored his son and turned his blood-shot eyes to Craig. “What the hell do you think you’re doing to my son?” he growled, taking a threatening step towards him, “I don’t appreciate having faggots in my house, confusing my boy!”

“Dad, leave him alone!” Clyde pleaded. He quickly got in front of Craig as Mr. Donovan came towards them. He felt Craig clutch his arm in fear.

“Clyde, be careful,” he murmured.

“Get out of the way, Clyde,” Mr. Donovan hissed, “I’m gonna teach this fag a lesson!”

“But dad, I love him!” Clyde cried out desperately. There a sudden and loud THWACK as Clyde was struck across the face and he fell to the ground. Craig cried out and quickly knelt down to help him.

Mr. Donovan glared down at his fallen son. “Get out,” he hissed in a low voice. Clyde blinked up at him, holding his face where he had been struck.

“W-What?” he asked in a tiny voice.

“GET OUT!” his dad shouted, “Get out of my house! I didn’t raise a fag, and I don’t want one living in my home! I don’t want to see you back here!”

He picked up a near by vase and threw it at them, but by the time it hit the wall, the two of them were already out the door, running back to Craig’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. That got intense at the end, huh? Next chapter will be Kyle, and we’ll have that dance that’s been mentioned.
> 
> Again, I’d like to apologize for how long my stories have been taking to update. I’m going through some personal things and my depression isn’t really getting any better. I’m doing the best I can, but don’t expect any updates for this story soon.


	15. Kyle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle isn't so sure about this whole dance thing. What if something goes wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter belongs to Kyle and something major is going to go down. And I mean HUGE.  
> I’m sorry in advance for how long this chapter took to get out. This one in particular was really hard to write, and they’re not going to get any better soon. I would like to remind you again to please not bug me about updating. I have a lot going on and this story in particular is very hard to write for various reasons.
> 
> TRIGGER/SPOLIER WARNING: There is a rape scene near the end of this chapter, so if this upsets you, skip the part at Cartman’s house.

Even though the dance at the school was happening the next night, Kyle couldn’t focus on it. Not with so many missing kids. Not with so many of his class mates and friends gone. He couldn’t believe that the school even wanted to put on this stupid dance. What was the point? So teens and pre-teens could get together and remember that eight kids had been kidnapped and were unlikely to be seen again? Yeah, smart move right there.

Then there were Kyle’s own personal feelings. Even if this whole kidnapping thing wasn’t happening, he didn’t know if he would want to attend. Seeing Stan dancing with Wendy would’ve been too much for him, but seeing Stan destroyed about not being able to dance with Wendy because he has no idea where she is was quite possibly even worse. He really hoped Stan and Cartman wouldn’t want to go to this.

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Kyle turned to see Stan enter. The black haired boy gave him a small smile.

“Hey,” he greeted, “Your mom let me in.” He went over and sat down on the bed next to Kyle. “How are you doing?”

“About as well as I’ve ever been,” Kyle muttered, “I can’t believe the school is still throwing that stupid dance. It feels a little insensitive, you know?”

“Yeah,” Stan replied awkwardly. Kyle looked at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Stan sighed.

“Cartman and I were actually thinking of going,” he explained, “It would be something to do and maybe help us get our mind off of things for a while. I was hoping you would go with me. I need my best friend by my side.”

Kyle sighed heavily. “I don’t know, Stan,” he murmured, “This whole business has really got me down. I’m not sure I want to go to a dance and watch a bunch of people sulk.” He looked down at the floor. “If Kenny were here it would be different…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Stan shudder. He knew the three of them were trying not to bring up any of their missing friends by name, but it felt like Kyle was starting to go crazy. By not mentioning Kenny or Tweek or Butters or any of the others by name it was like they were pretending they never existed or something.

Stan scooted over and pressed himself against his friend. Kyle felt his breath catch in his throat and he tried to suppress a tremble.

“Come on, Kyle, please?” Stan begged, “At least think about it?”

Kyle let out a big breath of air. “All right,” he muttered, “I’ll think about it. For you.”

A smile came to Stan’s face. “Thanks, buddy,” he replied. He stood up and stretched. “Are we still going to the library later to do research on Mr. Adder?”

Kyle smiled back at him. “Of course,” he replied, “We have to catch this sicko as soon as possible. Maybe we can research the history of the other teachers as well.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Stan agreed, “Better safe than sorry in case our hunch about Mr. Adder is wrong. You wanna call Craig, Clyde, and Cartman?”

Kyle hesitated slightly. He had been hoping to get some alone time with Stan, even if it was just sitting quietly at the library. But it did make more sense to have more people to help out. More eyes to scan pages and get through more information faster.

“Yeah,” he answered, “Call those guys. We’ll get done much faster.”

Stan nodded and pulled out his phone. He didn’t see Kyle look away and sigh sadly.

…

The five teens met up outside the library just after noon. They were silent as they went about their task. Kyle swept through the library’s database to try to find anything, anything that would provide enough evidence to their theories and they could go to the police. He found a report on Mr. Adder and clicked on it and was surprised to see that he had been arrested before. He tried to look up what he had been arrested for, but the page linked to his arrest had been deleted. Kyle hissed in annoyance.

Of course! Nothing can ever be easy, can it? He thought bitterly to himself.

“Has anyone found anything yet?” Craig asked from his computer.

“Well I found out that Mr. Adder was arrested,” Kyle announced, “Unfortunately, the arrest record has been deleted.”

Stan walked over and Kyle held his breath as his friend brushed against him. His face scrunched up in confusion.

“Do you think Mr. Adder could have done this to keep people off his trail?” he asked out loud, “But then again, it does seem a little too obvious. Maybe the kidnapper is just trying to make him seem more suspicious.”

“Maybe,” Kyle murmured.

“Ugh, it’s too confusing!” Cartman moaned, “Did anyone else find anything?”

“Well, I found out that Mr. Biggleston used to live in North Park,” Clyde told them, “He used to be a teacher there for like fifteen years. And Mr. Johnston was there briefly as well.”

Everyone looked at him. “Wait a minute,” Craig said slowly, “Remember that day in class when Stan asked Mr. Biggleston if he knew anything about the North Park kidnappings?”

“Oh yeah!” Stan replied, “He got really defensive and nervous! Even if he’s not the kidnapper he has to know something!”

As the group left the library after looking up where Mr. Biggleston lived, Kyle’s heart felt a lot lighter and for the first time since this whole thing began he felt like they were getting close to figuring out the truth.

…

Later the next night Kyle grumbled to himself as he got dressed for the dance. He had finally relented and agreed to go with Stan and Cartman after their findings at the library had put him in a better mood. Though he doubted that this dance was going to be all that uplifting.

Just as he finished getting dressed, he heard the front door bell ring. He quickly raced down stairs to answer it. Stan and Cartman were standing in the doorway looking rather nicely dressed. Stan grinned.

“Hey Kyle,” he greeted, “Looking good.” Kyle tried not to blush, but he didn’t know if he succeeded or not.

“Thanks,” he said, “You guys look nice as well.”

“Can you believe I actually had some decent clothes?” Cartman asked, “And I didn’t even have to ask my mom to help dress me.”

Kyle couldn’t help but laugh at Cartman’s stupid joke. Stan chuckled along too. The three of them then started making their way towards the school where the dance was.

When they got there, Kyle was rather surprised by the amount of people who showed up. It was a lot more than he thought there would be. The gymnasium was packed with students of all grades, dancing and socializing. He could see Craig and Clyde near the bleachers talking to each other. Token and Jimmy were near the refreshments and Token was gently rubbing Jimmy’s back in comfort.

“Ugh, look who’s here,” Stan muttered beside him. Kyle followed his gaze and was disgusted to see Jackson and his bully friends on the other side of the dance floor.

They were being obnoxious and loud, dancing in stupid ways, and just generally being annoying. Kyle scoffed and started heading towards the refreshments table, hoping Jackson wouldn’t notice them and bother them tonight. He heard Stan and Cartman follow him.

“Hey Token. Hey Jimmy,” he greeted.

“Oh, hi Kyle,” Token replied, raising a cup to him, “I didn’t see you guys come in. This dance is something, huh?”

“Oh, it’s something all right,” Kyle agreed sarcastically.

“Have you two been here long?” Stan asked. Token shook his head.

“Nah. We got here like five minutes ago,” he answered, “I wasn’t going to go, but Jimmy insisted that we come.”

“T-T-Timmy w-wouldn’t have w-w-wanted me to m-mope around,” Jimmy insisted, “He would w-want me t-to at l-l-least t-try to enjoy m-myself.”

“I can get behind that,” Cartman said, nodding.

Before their conversation could continue, they heard obnoxious laughing coming towards them and Kyle couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He knew exactly who it was without even looking. Next to him, Stan let out a sigh and they turned to see Jackson and his crew sauntering towards them. He was sneering at them.

“Well, I’m surprised you wusses showed up,” Jackson taunted, “I expected you all to be at home crying like a bunch of sniveling pussies.”

“Go away, Jackson, no one wants you here,” Stan growled at him. Jackson turned his gaze on him.

“What’s the matter Marsh?” he scowled, “Cranky because you lost your girlfriend?” Stan glared at him and Kyle put a hand on his shoulder. Jackson grinned in a cruel way. “Why don’t you get your little BFF to suck your dick for you to cheer you up? I’m sure he’d love to do it.”

Kyle turned his head to hide his blush. He felt Cartman step forward.

“Hey, back off, man!” he hissed, “You don’t need to push your own insecurities onto my friends!” Jackson glared at him.

“Oh? And what about you?” he sneered, “Just jogging along after these two and hoping they’ll notice you? Hoping to have a three way?”

Before Stan or Kyle could anything, Cartman leapt forward, fists flying. He struck Jackson in the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards and knock over his friends. He got to his feet, glaring at Cartman, and rubbing his mouth. Kyle quickly stepped forward to defend him.

“You fucking fags!” Jackson growled with hatred, “You’re all the same! You can’t stand the truth about how unnatural you are! I hate fags like you! You guys make me sick!” He snapped his fingers and he and his friends turned and left.

“Jesus what an asshole,” Token muttered, “I don’t know why he feels like he needs to cause trouble all the time. Nobody even likes him.”

“Seriously,” Stan agreed. He turned to Kyle and Cartman. “Are you guys ok?”

Kyle nodded, but Cartman was staring at the floor. “I’m… not feeling all that well,” he confessed, “Kyle, will you walk home with me?” The redhead blinked in surprise.

“Um, sure Cartman,” he replied.

Before they left, Stan quickly grabbed Kyle’s arm. “Are you sure you’ll be ok?” he asked in a slightly worried voice, “Do you want me to come with you?”

Kyle chuckled. “Stan, it’s just Cartman,” he reminded him, “I think I’ll be fine.” He could feel Stan watching him as the two of them left the school and walked towards Cartman’s house. Neither of them spoke, but Kyle could feel the tension. He knew his fat friend was upset by what Jackson had said.

When they got to Cartman’s house, he opened the front door and turned to Kyle. “Please come in,” he insisted, “I want to talk to you.”

Kyle couldn’t help but wonder what Cartman was up to as the larger teen led him to his room. Sure, things at the dance had been awkward, but he didn’t see why Cartman felt the need to isolate him for it. It was just Jackson being Jackson. No one had to apologize for it.

When they got to his room, Cartman opened the door and stepped aside to allow Kyle to go in first. Kyle was a little surprised by Eric’s room when he came in. There was dim lighting and candles on the window sills. Was this relaxing to Cartman or something? What was going on?

Confused, Kyle turned to Cartman who was shutting the door behind him. “Cartman, what are you-?” He was cut off when Cartman walked forward, cupped Kyle’s face in his hands, leaned forward and kissed him deeply.

In utter surprise, Kyle stumbled backwards, bumping into, and falling onto the bed. Cartman wasted no time in leaning over him, pinning his arms to the bed and kissing him. Kyle tried to struggle away, but Cartman was much larger and stronger than him, and kept him secure as he worked his tongue into Kyle’s mouth. He kissed him for a few minutes before pulling away to catch his breath.

“Cartman, what are you doing?” Kyle demanded, taking the opportunity to speak. Cartman stared down at him with an intense stare.

“I want you, Kyle,” Cartman breathed, “I want you so badly. I want to feel what it’s like to be inside you.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he stared in horror up at him. He flinched as Cartman moved him further on the bed, then climbed on top of him. He put his knees on either side of Kyle’s body and stared down at him as he calmly removed his coat, then his shirt. Kyle was horrified at how ripped Cartman was. Whatever it was he wanted to do, Kyle knew he would be unable to fight him off.

Cartman leaned down and started undoing Kyle’s coat, then ripped his shirt open with little effort, and Kyle flinched. Eric let out a little scoff.

“Don’t try to fight it, Kyle,” he told him in an eerily calm and serious voice, “You know you want this just as much as I do.”

Before Kyle could open his mouth to reply, Cartman bent over him and started kissing him again. He pinned Kyle’s shoulders down as he kissed him deeply and fiercely, working his tongue into his mouth. Kyle shuddered as Eric started kissing down his neck, to his chest, and down his torso. He stopped when he got to his pants and eagerly started undoing them. Kyle could feel his breathing getting harder and his heartbeat started to race.

As soon as Cartman got Kyle’s pants and boxers off, he sat up to start removing his own. Kyle took the opportunity to try to lunge off the bed and run for it, but he was instantly tackled and forced onto his back again. Cartman glared down at him, pinning his shoulders down, with his pants and shorts pulled down to his ankles.

“I told you not to fight it, Kyle,” he hissed as Kyle stared up at him in fear, “It’s only going to make it worse for you.”

“Why are you doing this?” Kyle whispered, terror clearly showing in his voice, “I haven’t done anything to you in such a long time! I thought we were finally starting to do better! Why are you torturing me?”

Cartman let out a small laugh. “I’m not torturing you,” he claimed, “I’m about to make love to you.” He grinned. “Sorry, I don’t have a lot of lubricant. This will have to do.” He stared down at Kyle, a hungry look in his eyes, as he lubed up his own cock.

Shuddering, Kyle closed his eyes. “Please don’t do this,” he breathed.

“I have to,” Cartman whispered in a breathy voice, “I can’t resist you any longer.” He adjusted himself over Kyle, then forced his way in.

Kyle gasped with pain as Cartman started thrusting his hips, pushing in and out with force. Kyle squirmed underneath him, trying to ignore the pain and how uncomfortable this was, but it was no use. Cartman leaned over him, panting and grunting in his ear as he started thrusting harder. Kyle moaned, but not with pleasure. He cringed when Eric moved to kiss him and forced his tongue into the redhead’s mouth. After a minute of making out, Cartman pulled away and adjusted himself so he could thrust deeper and harder into Kyle.

“Ha!... Hah!... Hah!... Oh God, Kyle!” Cartman panted as he thrusted faster, “You feel so good! I can’t believe how amazing this feels!”

A groan escaped past Kyle’s lips as Cartman leaned down and started kissing his throat. It hurt so badly. Kyle was almost positive he was bleeding or something. The only thing he could hear was his frantic breathing and Eric’s pleasured moans. He clung to the sheets beneath him, trying to distract himself, but nothing was working.

Cartman kept going well into the hour, thrusting and panting and moaning. He looked down at Kyle as he tried to fight off tears.

“Oh, sorry, Kyle,” Cartman grinned, “Have I been neglecting you? Let me help with that. I want you to feel good too.”

Kyle cringed when he felt Eric grab him and start pumping up and down. Kyle tried to hold back a cry. He didn’t want Cartman to pleasure him. He didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of watching him climax. But it wasn’t long before Kyle let out a horrid cry and orgasmed. Hearing his cries was enough to drive Cartman over the edge and he started releasing inside of Kyle.

“Oh fuck!” Eric sighed with pleasure, “Fuck yes! Oh my God, this is incredible! Kyle! Oh fuck!” Kyle shuddered in horror as Cartman kept releasing inside him. Eric’s voice rose as he rode out his wave of pleasure. “Kyle!” he cried out, “AH! AH! I want this to last forever! I want to be inside you every night! I can’t- AHHH!” He shuddered violently as another wave ripped through him and he released again inside of Kyle. He kept thrusting into the redhead through the entire orgasm that lasted almost two minutes. “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!”

When his orgasm was finally over, he collapsed on top of Kyle, panting heavily. “God, Kyle, that was amazing.”

Kyle didn’t respond, but simply trembled underneath him, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He let out a breathless gasp as Cartman rolled off of him and pulled out of him. As the fat teen lay there panting, Kyle scrambled off the bed and away from him in terror. Cartman didn’t even try to stop him as he gathered what was left of his clothes and ran out the door.

As he ran out of the house, Kyle pulled his clothes back on and it wasn’t until he was outside and a good block away when he stopped running. That’s when he finally broke down, sobbing quietly, hot tears running down his face. He felt so violated and used. How could Cartman do that to him?! He had been so disoriented he didn’t even realize he had run past his own house.

“I was right,” he cried quietly to himself, “I should’ve never gone to that stupid dance.” Wrapping his arms around himself, he turned around and started walking back to his own house. He didn’t know what he was going to do. Should he call the police and request a rape kit? Ugh. How did this happen?

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts Kyle didn’t even notice the black car slowly pulling up behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was by far the hardest chapter I’ve ever had to write. Poor Kyle. Next chapter is Stan’s chapter and I’ll try not to take two months to update this time. But in the meantime, please leave a comment!


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